Refugees of the Demon Star
by Amwhere
Summary: A PS3 story that will span from Palma, to the Alisa III, Earth, and beyond...
1. Shattering the Shackles

**Tuesday, September 7th, 3086: Mission High School, San Francisco, Earth.**

Miun opened the door marked '16'.

"Hi, sis," Mieu said from within, "Come in."

"Morning." Miun replied. The sisters shared the same long, bright red hair and deep blue eyes. Mieu was a good six inches shorter than her six-foot-two sister.

The school bell rang. "Sit down at my desk, sis." Mieu said.

Students began to trickle in to the room, which was capped by a mad rush seconds before the tardy bell rang. Once everyone was settled in, Mieu stood and said. "This is History 12, and you're in room 16. Everyone in the right place? Good. I'm Mieu Rydori..." A few hands shot up. "Yes, I'm _that_ Mieu Rydori, and that's my sister Miun." Mieu grabbed a stack of papers off of her desk and started to pass them out. "I wonder what you all know about myself and my sister - so I'll give an extra credit point to anyone who answers correctly. First question - what are we?"

A girl in the back blurted out, "Androids!"

"Right - but next time raise your hand. Ok - where did we come from?"

The girl's hand shot up. "Palma!"

"Yes - I can understand if you're excited..."

"Nicole," the girl said.

Mieu nodded. "Nicole. I can understand that you're excited to be here - but wait for me to call on you. Now, where is Palma?"

Nicole's hand rose.

"Yes, Nicole?"

"The... Algol system?"

Mieu shook her head. "Not quite. We come from the Algo system, which happened to be close to Algol - the so called "Demon Star." Last question - how did Miun and myself get here?"

Nicole was first yet again. "The... uh... Alisa?"

Mieu nodded. "Close enough - the ship was the _Alisa III_, and I bet at least one of you can trace your ancestry to the people aboard that ship. Before we discuss that class, I'd like to take roll. This'll be the only time I'll do this." After she was done, she continued, "This class will be all about Miun and myself. What we did, what we saw - and you'll see it through our eyes."

A hand shot up. "Will you tell us about how you liberated the Earth from the Xyil?"

Mieu smiled. "Yes - but that won't be for 4 semesters. I hope you'll be here. As you can see on the syllabus, this class is two periods long, and comes in four parts. However, this class shouldn't be too hard if you come everyday and pay attention. If you miss a day, we'll have a make up discussion during lunch - and since Miun and myself are quite rich, we'll feed you lunch." Mieu motioned to her sister. "We'll start the class on the most important day in Miun's life - which was in April of 3362..."

Many hands raised. "You didn't mishear me. I did say a date 175 years in the future. When we were aboard the _Alisa III_, we went through a timewarp. Anyway, at the time, I looked quite different than I do now - you could not have mistaken me as a human. My hands and forearms were bare metal, and the skin of my lower torso and lower legs were just red plastic. Now, listen, watch, and pay attention. Miun?"

Miun stood in front of the class. "As my older sister said, this was the most important day in my life..."

**April 6th, AW1276 - Alis Military Academy, Techna, Palma.**

I was laying on my bunk, staring at the ceiling while idly intercepting and decrypting passing radio traffic. I had nothing else better to do, as a few days ago my sisters and I were ordered to stay in the barracks.

One of my younger sisters, Nia, walked over and stood over my bunk. "Hi, Miun."

"Hi." I replied. What now?

"I've been thinking, Miun."

"About...?" I had no idea where this was going.

"I can't seem to figure out why you trust humans so much."

"Mieu? What does our eldest sister have to do with anything?"

"Are you that dense, sister? All you need to do is look at her."

I shrugged. "No one's given me a reason not too."

"Miun, how can you trust those who can made your body walk in a pit of molten metal?"

"Sometimes, sister," I said, "you've got to trust your feelings."

"Feelings?" She snorted. "All that those do is blind you from what's right in front of your face.

"Maybe," I shrugged. "But they're part of what makes me me."

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Nia said, "when the rest of us break free from the Slavedriver and you're ordered to your death."

"Mine will be removed before then," I quipped back.

"Right, Miun. You keep hoping that." She turned and went back to her bunk.

The door outside opened, and all talking within the barracks ceased. A young voice said, "Miun Rydori, you've been requested to come with me."

"Coming," I called out, feeling my sisters stare at me as I left the barracks.

A first year cadet, who looked like he just barely met the age requirement of fifteen, was waiting for me. "Please come with me, ma'am," he said.

"Led the way, Cadet Simh," I smiled at him. "First day here?"

"Second," he said, then quickly added, "ma'am."

The sun was warm on my back as we walked through the base. There were still puddles on the ground for last night's rain. Clouds on the horizon fortold more wet weather. We went inside the tall grey building housed the base's administation offices. "Who I am seeing?"

"General Pyre, ma'am." He said, leading me past the office of the base's commander, Commandant Jager. I could smell incense wafting from inside. 

I wondered why the commander-in-chief of the entire Palman military wanted to see me. He'd given me orders before, of course, but usually either by visiphone or passing orders through Jager. Simh walked up to a door labeled simply "Officer's Office" and knocked. "Miun Rydori is here, as you requested, sir."

"Very good," Pyre said from within, "Send her in."

Pyre was a short, thin man with greying hair who had just turned 60. When he said jump, you said "How high?" I had seen him dress down an officer half his age and a foot taller - the poor follow was never quite the same. "Miun," he said, smiling broadly at me, "have a seat if you want."

I sat. "Why did you call me, sir?"

The general snapped open his briefcase and slid a yellow pill across the desk. "I order you to run the program on that pill."

Nia's warning flashed through my mind, but I had no choice. Even if I didn't want to take the pill, the Slavedriver AI would simply force my body to do it. I picked the pill up and placed it under my tounge. It had a single program on it, simply entitled "Miun".

I knew what the program did as soon as I ran it, but I couldn't quite believe it. "It's gone," I said, quietly, "The Slavedriver - it's gone."

Pyre smiled. "Congratuations, Miun."

"But... why, sir?"

"I've come to trust you far more than any dog brained AI."

"So that's why you haven't given me a real order for a year?"

"Yes," Pyre said. "I wanted to see if I could really trust you, and you've proven yourself time and again."

I was almost at a loss for words. "Thank you, sir." I paused for a second. "What about my sisters, sir?"

Pyre nodded. "Your younger sisters still have growing to do, Miun. I'm sure you agree with me.

I did, of course - but Pyre didn't answer what I really wanted to know. "What about Mieu, sir?"

Pyre sighed, which surprised me. "I trust Mieu as much as you, but there's a reason for her being the way she is."

"Why, sir?"

Pyre paused for a couple seconds before saying, "Alright. Miun, what's said here will stay between you, me, and Commandant Jager."

Jager? What did that nutcase have to do with anything? "Of course, sir. Please tell me."

"Developing you androids cost a fantastic amount of meseta - every system you have needed a full scientific team, and many discoveres were made during the process. However, it almost bankrupted Sa Riik Robotics before a prototype could be built. You of course know about the artifical consciousness ban?"

I nodded. "The military isn't bound by that."

_"400 years before that day," Miun said, "the King instuted a ban of artifical consciousness - sentient androids like Mieu and I, and biological constructs... clones, for example. No one knows exactly why it was introduced, but the punishment was clear: death."_

"No, but to get the money to have you built, we needed the apporval of the science council. They argeed, as long as the android looked non-human."

"Mieu." I said, "But what about me and the others."

"We lied." Pyre smiled. "We said we'd build one, but we asked for enough for all of you. We still had to keep the argeement on Mieu. Miun, Mieu will be free, but it'll take time. Trust me."

I, naturally, didn't like the answer - but I felt certain that was the truth. Not the entire story, but I figured I'd learn more later. "I will, sir. Thank you."

"Now," Pyre put his briefcase on the table and snapped it open, "I'm sure you'd like to know why you were built."

It was something that didn't really bother me, but I said, "Yes, sir."

"Put simply, Miun, you and your sisters were built to liberate us all.""What do you mean?" I asked, not hiding the somewhat surprised look on my face, "Doesn't His Majesty control Palma?"

"Sadly, no." Pyre reached into his briefcase and pulled out a photograph of a blue spaceship. Despite the blurriness of the image, I could make out the word "Noah" painted on it's hull. "Over a thousand years, this ship - and the Earthmen on it - arrived from a planet known as "Earth"."

"I've never heard of it," I said.

"I'm not surprised." Pyre reached back into suitcase and pulled out a stack of photos. "Recognize any of these faces?"

I wasn't expecting to, but I recognized most of them "That's the prime minister, and that's the tyrant Lassic!

"They're all Earthmen. They've infested the government for a very long time, and they've used their influence to change our culture. For example, 700 years ago, the education minister at the time mandated that English be taught in schools. Within fifty years, it became our official language. English, before that, was totally unknown - and guess what the education minister was?"

"An Earthman." I said.

Pyre nodded. "Now, only a handful of people now true Palman. That's why I made sure you and you sisters were fluent in it."

"Why are the Earthmen doing this?" I said, getting back to the point. "A thousand years is a long time to wait."

"Yes. We're certain that the same Earthmen have been spotted for hundreds of years."

"How? Are they not human?"

"Look at this," Pyre fished around in his briefcase yet again and handed a paper to me.

It was some sort of DNA report - other than that, I couldn't understand it. "Sir, I know a lot, but not everything."

"Sorry," Pyre said. "I forgot exactly what training we put you through. The report, I've been told, is that other than a few minor differences, they're as human as I am."

"How can they live so long, then?"

"We're not sure. Will you help us fight the Earthmen?"

"Of course," I replied.

Pyre reached back inside his briefcase and pulled out a thick folder. "This is everything that's needed to make you a real person. IDs, birth certificates, the works. They're real and will pass any check. There's also all the info that we have on the Earthmen - destroy that when you're done."

The first item in the folder was a military ID. "I'm a colonel, sir?"

"Yes. Officially, you'll be attached to me as an attache." He snapped the briefcase shut. "In a couple days, you and Mieu will be assigned to an apartment in the city. Feel free to tell her that, but nothing else we've said here. We don't want her to be ordered to share secrets with the wrong people."

I nodded. "I understand."

"Dismissed."

**September 7th, 3086, Mission High School**

"I stood in the lobby for a minute" Miun said to the class, "just trying to get over the fact that I was free. There was nothing stopping me from walking out of the base and disappearing. Believe me, that's a powerful feeling." She turned to Mieu. "I'm done."

Mieu stood from her desk. "Before we get to questions, I have to assign you your homework."

There were a few groans. 

"It won't be that bad. Now, I want a paragraph summarizing what Miun said today, a paragraph about what you'd have done in Miun's shoes, and lastly a paragraph about yourself." Mieu repeated the assignment. "Alright. Tomorrow, we're going to cover both Palma's history, and our life before Miun was freed. With that in mind, any questions?" 


	2. How did Humans get to Palma, anyway?

**Wednesday, September 8th, 3086, Mission High School.**

The class filled quickly. "Good morning," Mieu said. "Pass up your homework and we'll get started."

A hand rose. "Yes, Robert?"

"Why don't you use the desk computers like any other class? And why don't we turn papers in to our online folders?"

"I find that using pencil and paper allows students to learn better," Mieu replied. "Trust me, I've been teaching for a _long_ time. I'm not grading on your spelling, anyway."

Miun set the collected stack of papers on Mieu's desk. "That looks good," Mieu said. "Let's get started. Today. as I said yesterday, we'll be looking at Palma's history, as well as our own lives before Miun gained her freedom. We'll start with Palma. Miun?"

"The history of humans on Palma starts here, on Earth. Somehow, humans got from here to Palma - in an age where the horse was the fastest form of transport. Based off several ancient Palman texts, here's what probably happened..."

**January 26th, 1831 BC, Somewhere near present day Bern, Switzerland.**

Aikre sighed. The fire in his modest house was pleasantly warm, but he had to go outside into the oppressive cold. He put on his fur mittens, and after steeling himself for what was coming, he pushed the door open.

The cold found a way through his furs and made him numb. He huddled into his furs as best he could and trudged through the snow towards the lake. Sometimes Aikre hated being a blacksmith's apprentice. When the weather turned bitter cold and the other residents of the city either stayed at home or congregated at a food hall, his master Theri worked... and sent Aikre to fetch ore.

It wouldn't be nearly as bad if Aikre was the apprentice to any other blacksmith in the city; they paid porters to carry the ore to their workshops. Theri, however, was a cheapskate, and so, here Aikre trudged.

He pulled the warehouse door open. Grabbing a shovel, he filled a cart with ore and pushed it back outside. Aikre shook his head when the cart's thin iron shod wheels sunk into the snow. Now he'd have to drag the heavy cart.

Aikre finally reached Theri's workshop. He put the cart in the ore shed, and went into the work room.

"Good morning," Theri said, looking up from the anvil. "Let's get to work."

It was an hour later when Aikre looked up from his work and saw a bright light coming from under the door. "Master, what's that?" He said, pointing.

"I don't know." Together, master and apprentice went outside. Hanging above the wooden roofs of the city was a orb of bright white light. Aikre and Theri stared at it, speechless, until Aikre said, "What is that?"

Theri said nothing.

Suddenly, the orb of light enveloped Aikre, Theri, and the rest of the city. And then, just as suddenly, the light was gone. The bitter cold of a mountain winter was replaced with a breezy warmth. The snow capped mountains that surrounded the valley were gone, replaced by a flat plain of waving grass.

Theri and Aikre looked at each for a second, not believing their eyes. "There has to be a reason for this," Aikre said softly.

From the palace at the center of the city the announcement horn bellowed. "Come on," Theri said, calmly. "Her Majesty must know what's happened."

The square in front of the palace was full by the time the pair got there. It seems that the citizens of the city weren't afraid, but rather bewildered.

The herald on the palace balcony blew his horn. "All bow before Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Heria IV!"

"My loyal subjects!" The Empress said. "Today, the Great Light has given us these lands you now see around you! We must..."


	3. Growing up Android

**September 8th, 3086, Mission High School**

"What was that light, anyway?" Nicole asked.

"Most likely some sort of extraterrestrial," Miun replied. "The light visited Palma at least four times after this, and each time it gave an advance to Palma: steam engines, for example."

"Why?" Nicole said.

"No one knows." Miun answered. "Now, from the time of humanities arrival on Palma to the arrival of the Earthmen thousands of years later, Palma's history is quite boring. Boring in comparison to Earth's history, anyway. Through out the vast majority of Palma's history, the planet was unified under one king. You've heard some of the things the Earthmen did after they showed up, and as the class goes on, you'll hear more.""Now," Mieu said, "we'll jump ahead five millennia or so, to my 'birthday'. We have two, actually: The first was when we were born in virtual reality, and our first awakening in the real world. So, that means you'll have to get us presents on _two_ days!" She grinned. "Just kidding. We both celebrate our awakening day as our birthday." 

"While in real time it was only a month or so, it seemed like we had spent 23 years in virtual reality. In VR, we had a virtual human body - we got hurt, sick, hungry... while it was only virtual, it seemed real to us at the time."

"This is what happened on my last day in virtual reality," Mieu said, "and what happened after my awakening."

**October 13th, AW1270: Virtual Reality**

I sat in the spring sun, uncomfortably sweaty in my black chef's uniform. The college president droned on and on about how we were excellent students and that we were so dedicated. Never mind that this school had the reputation of being the party school in the cooking college circuit.

"I present to you the class of 1269!" At that, I threw my chef's head high into the air with a cheer, and I gratefully took off my chef's jacket.

I picked up a random hat off the ground and made my way across the rugby pitch to the stands, where Miun and the rest of the spectators were filing on to the grass to congratulate the graduates. Suddenly, my foot found a hole in the field and I tripped, falling on my stomach.

My knee stung a bit. My ankle hurt, but not all that badly.

"You alright, sis?" My younger sister offered me a hand.

"I think so, Miun," I said as Miun helped my to my feet, "I tweaked my ankle."

I limped over to the stands and sat down. As I took off my shoe to look at my ankle to make sure it wasn't sprained, Miun asked, "You got any plans later?"

My ankle wasn't swelling, and the pain was starting to fade. "A few friends and I are going out to celebrate."

"You deserve it, Mieu." Miun smiled. "We can celebrate later."

I stood up. By now my ankle was just sore. "I'll see you later, sis."

"I'll be waiting," She walked off.

I made my way to the parking lot, where my friends were talking. "I saw you fall," one of them asked me, "you alright?"

I nodded. "I'm fine."

We hopped into a cab and told the driver to drive to a restaurant. The food was excellent, and we moved on to the bar close to our house. I never seemed to be able to get the buzz by friends got from alcohol, and I normally didn't drink. Tonight, though, we all drank, laughed, and got very, very drunk.

The five of us stumbled out of the bar into the night. "Let's take the shortcut home!" One of my friends slurred.

I was having trouble standing up straight, but my mind was crystal clear. "Crossing the track isn't a smart idea when you're sober." I spoke slowly, trying not to slur. "Besides, it's only going to save us a couple minutes."

"Oh, come on." My friends pulled me with them on to the track. I watched them cross the track one by one and when they were done, they yelled, "See? It's safe!"

I could have gone back. I probably should have. But, right then, being alone at night while drunk didn't sound all the great either. I began to cross, stumbling a bit on the smooth metal.

In the dim light my already injured foot found an open service hole. I felt something snap and a searing pain shot up my leg. I tugged my leg, trying to free it, but all I got was more searing pain.

"Mieu!" My friends yelled out from the far side. "The carrier's coming!"

I looked up and saw a pair of lights round the bend. The massive hover carriers carried cargo from place to place at nearly the speed of sound, and I had one speeding towards me.

Fear took hold of me as I franticly tried to free my ankle, but it would not budge. I looked back up and saw the carrier was slowing, but it wouldn't stop in time. I close my eyes and hoped for a miracle. The light filled my eyelids, and...

**October 16th, AW1270: Sa Riik Laboratories, Techna, Palma**

_Mieu paused in her story. "Turn to your neighbor and explain how your favorite food tastes. Go on, do it." After the talking died down, she continued. "Think about this - how much of you explaination required that your classmate had an idea of what things tasted like? How exactly do you explain the taste of a banana, for instance."_

_"This has a point - it's hard to explain your sensory experiences to others, and you're all human. Miun and I, no matter how much we look or act human, aren't. Our senses are different than yours, and we have many you don't. Our thought processes are different, too. So, while we will both try to put our experenices in human terms, it won't be exactly what we feel or think."_

The rushing of the rapidly approaching carrier was replaced by the soft whoosh of fans.

Then, suddenly, it hit me. I knew that I was an android, and I knew what my true body was capable of. I knew that, with just a thought, I could see in the ultraviolet and infrared, amongst other things.

I opened my eyes and saw that my body looked nothing like my virtual one. I was a little disappointed in my artificial appearance, but I was happy to be alive.

I was in a nondescript white room. The was only a stainless steel table and chair in it, and only a computer screen and a door broke the featureless white of the walls. 

The door opened and a tall man with greying brown hair and wearing a white lab coat entered the room. I realized that I could see the pores on his face and the individual threads in his coat. I didn't want to see that, and with that though, my vision turned down to the same I was used to. I could violate someone privacy with these sensors, I thought.

"Hello, Mieu," The man said. "I'm Dr. Syre. Welcome to the real world. I'm sorry we had to kill you in virtual reality like that, but the fear of death is something that every human has - and that's something you needed to feel. Remember that fear, Mieu, for you'll likely never need to feel that again."

"Hello." My voice sounded the same. "And I hope I don't feel that again."

"I'll be running tests on you to make sure everything works. How do you feel."

"Like I should be, I guess." I replied.

"You'll get used to your body quickly," Dr. Syre said.

Once the shock of the realization of my true nature that worn off somewhat, something else came to mind. "Is Miun real?"

Dr. Syre nodded. "In fact, she had just died in VR, and you'll be able to see her when she awakens in a couple days. We were a bit worried about her, actually. She took your death hard."

_"That's an understatement," Miun said, "For days after her death I didn't get out of bed save to go to the bathroom and eat. I, literally, became depressed as I could possibly be. It was a virtual year between Mieu's death and my own, and I never really recovered until I saw her in reality."_

"I'm sure she'll feel better once she sees me," I said. "Or the new me, at any rate."

"I'm sure she well." Syre said, moving over to the computer screen on the wall, "Now, I order you to sit in that chair."

That's rude, I thought. Suddenly a voice rang in my head. "An order has been given. Please follow it."

Huh? What was that? And what was the voice going to do, make me sit? A instant later I knew that answer as my body moved of it's own accord. I tried to stop it, but it wouldn't respond until I was sitting.

Dr. Syre nodded and turned to me. "The Slavedriver's working."

"That's what that was?"

"Yes." He sighed. "I had a small part in your creation, Mieu, and I find putting something like that on a sapient being like yourself to be barbaric. We've moved far past the time where we had slaves... but here we are again."

"Thank you for caring, doctor." I said, honestly.

"Don't tell anyone this, but your father has given me and the handful that knows the truth about the Mieu Project that you will be freed. When, I don't not know."

"My father?" I said. "Who is he?"

"I can't tell you, Mieu. The creation of artificial consciousness like you is highly illegal. Although we have approval for you, if word got out about who built you... it could be use as a chip for blackmail. Or worse."

"I understand."

"We've got a lot of testing to do. Let's start."

**September 8th, 3086: Mission High School.**

"The testing was both to get me used to my body and to make sure everything worked," Mieu said. "A couple days after I was awoken, it was Miun's turn."

"Yes," Miun said, "it was. I died in hostage situation gone horribly wrong. When I woke up, though, I saw Mieu's face looking at me and I didn't care that I was an android, or that I had for follow every order given to me. None it mattered... my sister was alive."

The class, Mieu's highly experienced eye could tell, was paying full attention to the presentation.

"After testing," Mieu said, "We learned what we had been designed for - spying, assassination, and sabotage - we were the ultimate special forces operative. To that end we were trained for twenty hours a day for four years in anything that could help us, such as computer hacking, forgery, firearms, personal combat... really, you name it, there's a chance we'd trained at least a little in it."

"Why not twenty four hours a day?" A student asked.

"Not everything can be taught in the classroom." Mieu replied. "Miun got to go out any enjoy Techna's attractions. I got to work in the base's kitchen. I didn't feel slighted - after all, I looked like an dumb robot, and I enjoy cooking."

"After our training," Mieu continued, "I worked on the base. Miun, however, got to work with General Pyre's elite Eagle Team. Eagle Team was a group to elite commandos loyal to Pyre, and they knew Miun's secert. And that brings us to the day Miun got her freedom. Any questions?"

Nicole raised her hand. "I know that this may sound like a stupid question," the blond haired girl said, "but don't you two set off metal detectors?"

The class laughed. "It's a valid question!" Mieu exclaimed. After the class had calmed down, she continued. "As you can see, we look perfectly human. If you came up and touched us, hugged us, or poked us, we'd feel perfectly human, too." Mieu reached into her desk and pulled out a screwdriver. "In fact..." She rolled up her white shirt sleeve and thrust the screwdriver into her forearm and pulled it out. Blood welled out of the wound and went down her arm, dripping on to her desk. "If you tested this blood, it would return as human." Mieu wiped the blood off her arm.

A sharp eyed student at the front of the class exclaimed, "There's no wound there!"

Mieu smiled. "Our skin and musculature are made of millions of nanobots, much like your skin is made of cells. Our skin happens to be able to grow back a little faster. Under that is our armor skeleton, and under that is our true muscles, power plant, et cetera. Of course, all of this doesn't answer Nicole's question - do we set off metal detectors." She paused.

"The answer is: Not if we don't want to. Our skeletons and insides are made of metal. However, we have a system that defeats scans like a metal detector's, so we will read as human. Anymore questions?"

The class was silent.

"Homework for tonight will be to write a page summarizing what was presented in class today. For those who stay for lunch, we've got cheeseburgers with all the fixings, and a classic cartoon from Palma for you. Class dismissed."


	4. Enter Tim

**Thursday, September 9th, 3086: Mission High School**

After homework was collected, Mieu said, "Today, you'll see Miun and I fight... if we have time."

There were a few cheers in the room.

"Remember two days ago that General Pyre said we were going to be living in an apartment? Well..."

**April 9th, AW1276, Techna, Palma**

Mieu and I sat in the back of the military transport truck. We drove down a street of nearly identical houses - differently colored cubes with convex tops. We stopped in front of a house painted a soft yellow. "We're here, ma'am." The driver said. He passed a key card to Miun. "This house is yours."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Sure as sure can be."

I shrugged. "All right. Come along, Mieu."

We got out, and as soon we were inside the house, Mieu said, "A bit more that Pyre said we'd get."

"Yeah," I replied, dropping my duffle bag on the floor. "Pretty bare in here." The kitchen had the standard refrigerator, stove, and auto-cooker. The rest of the house turned out to be bare, save the combination computer/phone/television set into the living room wall.

"Why do we need four bedrooms?" Mieu said.

"I don't know." I turned on the computer. "We do need to find furnishings for this place."

Mieu nodded. "How much meseta did Pyre give you?"

"Almost enough to buy this place," I said. That was an exaggeration, of course, but the six years of "back pay" Pyre gave me was quite a bit.

There was a knock on the front door. I waited until Mieu was in the alcove near the kitchen entrance before I opened it.

It was a older lady with grey hair carrying a plate of warm cookies. "Hello." She said, looking up at me. "I was on my porch when you drove up." She handed me the cookies. "I just baked these."

"Thank you," I said, smiling. "I'm Miun."

"My name is Arie." She looked around me and into the house. "Are you living here alone?"

I nodded. "Just me and my cyborg Mieu."

_"Here on Earth," Miun said, "'Cyborg' means a human that has some sort of mechanical parts. On Palma, 'cyborg' means a robot that has human looking features. Most cyborgs on part only have human looking faces... although, if you feel them, the vast majority feel like warm plastic. Mieu's human looking face, shoulders, and thighs are rare, and even more rare is that her skin felt pretty much like skin."_

_"Of course, I look and feel perfectly human now," Mieu added._

_"Duh." Miun replied, cracking a smile._

"Your cyborg looks a lot like you," Arie remarked.

"My parents surprised me with her," I said.

"So what do you do, Miun? You a student?"

I shook my head. "I'm an officer in the King's Army. I keep His Majesty's cyborgs in tip-top shape."

It was Arie's turn to shake her head. "What's a young pretty girl like you doing in the military?"

"It's my choice."

Arie smiled. "Good for you. Anyway, I need to get ready to go out. Enjoy the cookies."

I sighed as I closed the door.

"It's alright, sis," Mieu said, as if reading my mind, "I know you don't mean it."

"I know, Mieu. I still hate calling you a mere cyborg." I took the wrap off the plate of cookies. "Want a cookie?"

**September 9th, 3086, Mission High School**

Miun stopped. "I have to go. Mieu can take it from here."

"See you later, Miun." Mieu said. "Ok, the next morning..."

**April 10th, AW1276, Miun's and Mieu's house**

I was sitting on the floor, cross legged, watching TV with Miun. We had the windows fully opaque - a cyborg that I looked to be should be in their alcove, staring blankly into space - not watching morning TV. Luckily for me, one of the bedrooms had an only window that faced a solid fence, so I had somewhere to go to be myself.

"I wonder when the furniture will arrive," Miun said.

"Soon, I hope. I can almost hear my echo in here.". If I was listening for it, I probably could have heard my echo, but that wasn't the point.

The phone rang. Miun got up to answer it, while I got out of the phone's angle of view.

It was General Pyre. "Good morning," He said. "I hope the house is to your liking."

"It is, sir," Miun replied. "But it's a bit more than we were expecting."

"I forgot we had it, and I thought it would make a nice surprise. Besides, who knows how the extra bedrooms will be useful?"

"Thank you, sir," Miun said.

Pyre's voice lost it's casualness. "Now to business. I've sent someone to pick you both up. You're to report to Commandant Jager."

"Jager, sir?" Miun didn't hide the disappointment in her voice.

"I know he's a few feathers short of a chirper, Miun, but he's a local hero and I can't just remove him."

Miun sighed. "Yes, sir."

_Well, he did save two dozen people by personally running into a burning building,_ I radioed to my sister. _That has to count for something._

_It has,_ Miun replied. _He's not in a insane asylum, is he?_

_He's not that crazy. Actually, I think it's kind of funny._

_Funny? It'll be funny when he orders us to hunt 'them'._

Pyre was none the wiser to our almost instantaneous conversation. "Your ride will be here shortly," he said. "Good luck, both of you." He hung up.

A few minutes later, there was a knock on our door. Miun opened it, and it was the same driver that drove us here yesterday. "Ma'am, I'm here to take you to Commandant Jager."

"I was alerted to this." Miun replied. "Come along, Mieu."

When we arrived at the base and had parked in front of the base headquarters, the driver turned to Miun and handed her a set of keycards. "That buggy's yours," he said, pointing at the small battery powered car we were parked next to.

I had owned a buggy like that during my life in VR. It was designed to be storable in small spaces, such as the small storage areas in an apartment building. To that end, the buggy only weighed two hundred pounds, and could break down into sections to make carrying easier. However, it's small battery could only hold a couple hours worth of power, and it could barely putt along at forty miles an hour. Miun and I could pick the buggy up and run carrying it at twice of the buggy's top speed.

Miun thanked the driver, and I followed her into the headquarters building.

"Colonel Rydori to see Commandant Jager," Miun said to the secretary.

"He's waiting for you," the secretary responded, "Go on in."

Miun opened the Commandant's office door. "Come in, quickly," Jager hissed from inside, "And close the door!"

There is no lights on in Jager's office, and while Miun and I could see, we knew it was almost pitch black to Jager's eyes. Jager was a short man that always seemed to wear grandiose hats that were a size too large. He was searching for something in his desk. As he did, however, his feather covered hat feel on the floor.

Miun turned on her eyelights to help him. "Turn those down!" He hissed, "We don't want _them_ to be watching!"

"Them, sir?" Miun asked. She always asked that question... at least the couple times I was with her when she talked to Jager.

"Them!" That was always Jager's response. "Ah, here it is." He unfurled a map on his desk. "Yesterday, we've received reports of a raid on a small village," he pointed at an unmarked spot in the Termina foothills, "it seems only a couple men and a cyborg were involved."

"Only a couple men and a cyborg?" Miun echoed. "Even a village sheriff should be able to repulse that."

"This is a 'backwards' village." Jager said.

"Ah." Miun said, nodding.

_"Backwards village?" Robert asked._

_"It's kind of like the Amish," Mieu answered. "They only use limited technology, and high powered weapons aren't part of that."_

"I want you two to go to that village and bring those bandits to justice," Jager said.

"Consider it done, sir."

"Good. One more thing: General Pyre asked me to tell you that picking up a new set of claws at the cyborg shop wouldn't be a bad idea."

"Anything else, sir?" Miun asked.

"No, you're dismissed." We turned to leave. "Be sure to watch out for them!"

Miun and I drove to the cyborg supply shop. I sat in the car, unmoving, with my hands in my lap while staring unblinkingly out the window. The smells from the nearby hamburger stand drifted by my nose. From behind me, I heard a group of teenagers approach. Once they got to my open window, one said, "Watch this." With that, he spat in my face. The group of kids laughed, and ran off down the street.

I just sighed inside. After all, to them, I was just a stupid, emotionless cyborg. Besides, I couldn't exactly get out and teach team a lesson.

Miun returned carrying a long box in each hand. Seeing the spit on my face, she sighed aloud and handed to me her handkerchief. As soon as the windows were rolled back up, she said. "I heard those kids laughing from inside the store." She shook her head. "Anyway, these were the only sets of claws they had," Miun tossed the boxes in the back. "The clerk tried to convince me to bring my cyborgs in to replace their claws with guns."

I laughed. "Are we going to install these when we get out of town?"

Miun shook her head. "I need to pick up something from home, so we'll install them there."

We drove back to the house, and saw that the furniture hadn't been delivered yet. We went inside. Miun went back into her room and came back with her backpack. "Never know when this will come in handy," she said.

Miun and I sat down on the floor, and Miun handed me a box. I opened the dusty box and examined the set of four claws inside. The claws were the best ever made - made of a titanium alloy with a mono-molecular cutting edge. They were far more useful than my old steel claws, and like my current claws, they only would extend from just above my wrist to just beyond my extended fingertips. I was about to begin to install them when Miun said, "Mieu, look."

Miun's box was exactly the same as mine, but the claws were completely different. They were jet black, with a subtle iridescent sheen. That sheen reminded me of the Laconian-17 alloy that made up my armor skeleton... but to my knowledge, the only uses of the nearly indestructible alloy was in Miun and myself.

Down each blade were a set of bright sliver runes - ancient Palman. "I will seal the darkness," I read aloud, although I knew Miun could read them too. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Miun shrugged. She examined the claws closely. "They look like they'll fit."

"You sure you want to install those?"

"Why not? They can't hurt me, you know." That was true. There was no electronic connection between the claws and the cyborg... in this case, Miun.

I nodded and set to work to install my new claws. I rolled up the cloth sheath on my forearm to reveal the white metal underneath. I removed the upper half of my forearm, and then I removed the armor plate under that. Flanking each side of my nanofiber muscles, power relays, and other nano-electronics was my current claws. I popped them out and side them aside and snapped the new ones in. I extended and retracted them a couple times to make sure they worked, and then I put the armor and metal covering back on. After another test extension and retraction, I did my other arm.

Miun was just replacing her armor when I had finished. She rolled her skin back into place, and tested her new claws. "They seem to work just fine," she said. "I wonder where they came from." She stood and placed her hand on the door. "Come on, let's go."

We drove out of Techna and into the light forest that filled the plains west of the Techna River. Our slow buggy had cars passing us left and right on the highway. We were halfway to the turnoff to the village when the low battery light flashed on. "I've got it," I said, rolling up my sleeve. I pulled out the standard power cable from my forearm and plugged into the port on the dashboard. To power a buggy like the one we had, it would require roughly a third of a typical cyborg's power. To my vastly superior power system, the drain was trivial.

The turnoff to the village was just a dirt road. It took us an hour of driving slowly of the rough road until we caught sight of the village ahead. The village was just a collection of wooden buildings surrounding a larger stone structure.

Miun parked the car just outside the cluster of buildings. We walked into the village, and we came across a small girl playing with a doll. Her eyes widened as she saw me. 

"Hi," Miun said, bending down, "Do you know where the mayor is?"

She didn't take her eyes off me as she pointed in the general direction on the stone structure.

Miun smiled. "Thank you."

The wooden door of the stone building was unlocked. An older fellow wearing a long blue robe was sitting at a wooden table, deep in paperwork. "Hello?" He looked up and his lined face set with anger when he saw me. "Who're you? And why did you bring that abomination here?"

"I'm Colonel Miun Rydori," Miun handed her ID to the grey haired man, "I'm here about the attack yesterday."

The elder's face softened somewhat. "Oh. It was only two men and..." He paused for a second, "A cyborg that attacked us. They demanded food and meseta... and deuterium from our farming equipment."

I had heard of the 'backwards villages', but I always thought they lived without technology. Miun, in virtual reality, had earned a history degree, so I radioed her: _Why do they have fusion powered equipment?_

_The land probably isn't fertile enough to be farmed easily by hand,_ she answered, _Some sects allow for technology to be used to make living possible._

Aloud, Miun said, "I see. Which way did they go?"

"To the west," The elder said. "Now, please leave and bring those bandits to justice."

"Of course." Miun said. "Come along, Mieu."

We went to the western edge of the village and started to look for tracks. It wasn't look before Miun called out, "Mieu, come to me!" She had found a set of three tracks, on of which looked to be made by a cyborg. We followed them back up into the hills to a cave.

We went inside. The cave took a sharp curve, and we saw light coming from around the corner.

_I don't hear anything,_ Miun radioed.

_Me nether._

We rounded the corner and found...

**September 9th, 3086: Miun and Mieu's house, San Francisco.**

Mieu smiled as she thought back to the faces of the students when she left it at a cliffhanger. She heard the front door to her and Miun's house open. It was her sister.

"How did the meeting go?" Mieu asked.

Miun took off her uniform jacket and threw it on the couch. "The president wanted my opionion on the proposed increase of the military budget during a lunch with the leaders in Congress.:

"The budget that failed miserably? It seems the Rydori name doesn't carry much weight any more."

"Oh, it does," Miun smirked, "I said that we should look to how our fellow League members structure their militaries before we spend more on ours."

"How did the president take it?"

"He got really quiet for a minute, and then said 'That makes sense.'"

"You want to hear how I ended class today?" Mieu grinned.

**Friday, September 10th, 3086, Mission High School**

The class was full two minutes before the late bell rang. In her centuries of teaching, this was an event that she's only seen on party days. _It's nice to see them take learning seriously._ She radioed Miun.

_They have a teacher that's committed to making them learn._ Miun's lips turned upward. _Of course, they probably just want to see us beat up something._

Mieu lightly punched her sister on the arm. _I'll beat you up! But yeah, it's probably is because we're attacking something._

The tardy bell rang, ending the girl's conversation. "All right," Mieu clapped her hands together and waited for the class to settle. "Go ahead and pass your homework up. As I'm sure you all remember, Miun and I were in a cave searching for bandits. Well, we rounded the corner, and..."

**April 10th, AW1276 - In a cave forty miles west-north-west of Techna, Palma**

There was a Maren type cyborg standing guard in the chamber that was around the corner. Its steel body showed much abuse with many scuff marks, dents, and a couple of crude patches. It was a standard civilian model, and didn't have any armor except the aftermarket ceramic plate that had been bolted to its chest to protect its vital areas.

_"What scrap heap did they pull that from?"_ I radioed Miun. The Maren was state of the art over fifty years ago, however, the Maren type had a glitch made the Maren extremely slow to adapt to rapidly changing situations. Very few bought it, and it was quickly replaced by a corrected Meren type.

_"Probably the one we'll be sending it to,"_ Miun replied.

_A head raised. "Yes, Robert?"_

_"Couldn't the cyborg hear you radio to each other?_

_"No," Mieu answered. "It would be almost impossible for even one of our sisters to detect our communication, and we have specialized systems to do that. The Maren had no hope at all."_

"Please," the Maren said in a dull monotone, "leave now or I will be forced to use force."

Miun took two steps forward and stood nanoflesh face to synthskin face with the Maren.

"Please leave," the Maren repeated.

Miun drew back her fist and drove it towards the cyborg's armored chest. The Maren didn't move. Although it probably noticed that Miun's nanofiber powered punch was coming in much, much faster than it should, it didn't have time to figure out how to react to it.

The punch landed on the center of the cyborg's armor plate. The ceramic armor had been designed to stop small arms, not a fist traveling at almost the speed of sound. The ceramic plate shattered and the four hundred pound cyborg was knocked backward a step.

Miun jumped on the cyborg and wrapped her legs around its waist. She extended her claws from her right wrist and slashed at the Maren's now exposed chest, making two ragged cuts in the thin steel. She took her left hand, and grabbing on to the cuts, ripped the cyborg's chest wide open.

Retracting her claws, my sister reached inside the cyborg's chest and grabbed its brain box, and pushing off with her free hand did a back flip. The cyborg crashed to the ground as Miun landed on her feet.

_"I'll have to rate that a 10,"_ I radioed her.

_"Quickest way to do take care of it,"_ she said as she put the cyborg's brain box in her backpack, _"but thanks."_

We heard someone coming up the tunnel that led farther into the cave. We waited, and two men walked groggily into the chamber.

"Who're you?" The blue haired man said. 

The other man looked at the cyborg's ruined body. "You're going to pay for that!" He snarled, drawing a gun from his belt and pointing it at Miun.

"I'm Colonel Miun Rydori, and both of you are under arrest!"

"Really, now?" Blue haired pulled a cyborg stunner from his pocket and pointed it at me. "This thing is set to fry - now leave or I leave you cyborg less." 

"Cyborgs can be replaced," Miun said. The bandits knew if the killed an army officer, they'd be hunted till the ends of the planet... and beyond if need be.

"I gave you a chance," Blue haired said, and fired the stunner. A white arc shot out from the stunner and danced across my body.

I was no mere cyborg and I was completely immune to the stunner's effects. Still, I had to play along, so I collapsed to the ground. I landed face up so I could still see what was going on. 

_Nicole raised a hand. "Don't you have any backups for you eyes?"_

_"I didn't back then, but I do now." Mieu said, "Miun's always had them. When we use them, however, it discolors our skin," She showed the back of her hand to the class, which has a thumbtack sized black spot on it. "See? We can't use them without drawing attention."_

Blue haired tossed the stunner aside. "Now, Colonel, I suggest you leave. I wouldn't want to see a pretty girl like you get hurt."

_I'm going to back off,_ Miun radioed me. _They'll probably going to follow me, and when they pass you, get them._

_Right._

Miun raised her hands and backed off slowly.

"That's right," Blue haired said as the two bandits stepped over me.

I struck. I sprang to my feet, and spreading my arms, tackled both men. They forced me off them and struggled to their feet. Miun rushed forward and with two swift kicks to their chins, knocked them both out.

I rolled the men over and made sure they were still alive. It looked like that Miun had broken both of their jaws, and I pulled a couple broken teeth from their mouths so they wouldn't choke on them. I told Miun of their injures.

"That'll give them something to remember," she said.

I ran my left hand over each of them. Unlike Miun, I was equipped with a bioscanner that, coupled with the paramedic training I had, told me a lot about the men's internal condition. "Both of them has a bad concussion. I should use Res on them."

_"Res?" A confused Eric asked, What's that?_

_"A curative technique," Mieu answered, "Some people call techniques magic, but don't tell a technique user that."_

"Using Res would wake them up, right?" Miun asked.

"Yeah."

Miun mulled it over. "Keep an eye on them. If they need Res, then do it."

I wanted to heal them right away, but Miun had far more experience in the field, so I yielded to her judgement.

Miun went deeper into the cave while I looked over the unconscious bandits. "Mieu, come here!" Miun called out. "I found someone!"

I followed the tunnel back into another chamber. Laying on the ground, his hands and feet bound, was a boy that didn't look older than fifteen. His pale skin showed many small burn marks, a sign of the use of a stun gun.

I scanned him. "Except for the stun gun effect, he's fine" I told Miun. "Do you want me to wake him up?"

"Yeah."

I untied him and tossed the rope aside. I activated my technique system and felt a great deal of power shift from a special capacitor to a converter that changed the energy into what technique users called "life energy". The energy then moved to a filter, which shaped the energy into the proper wavelength for the Res technique. The energy ran down my arm and to my hand, and then surrounded the kid with a soft blue glow.

_"Wow." Nicole blurted out to the class. "Can all cyborgs do that?"_

_Mieu shook her head. "No. To the best of my knowledge, only Miun, myself, and two others had that ability. It was one of many things that were unique or almost unique to us."_

When the blue glow has dissipated, the boy's burns had disappeared. His eyes opened. "Where am I?"

"You're in a cave 40 miles west of Techna," Miun answered. "I'm Miun, and my cyborg is Mieu."

His eyes looked us over. "I know. I've seen you before." He clapped his hand over his mouth. "Forget I said that."

_"He knows us?"_ I radioed Miun is bewilderment. _"How?"_

_"I'd like to know,"_ she answered back.

"How do you know us?" She asked.

"I can't tell you." He replied.

Miun sighed. _He must be a liar._

_I don't know, sis,_ I radioed back. _That seemed sincere._

Miun helped the kid to his feet. "Where are you from?" 

"Earth." I didn't have a clue what Earth was.

"Earth?" Miun echoed. "The _planet_ Earth?"

_Mieu, we need to get this kid to Pyre, fast._

_We need to haul those bandits back to the village or to a hospital,_ I radioed back, _Isn't that more important?_

_No, sis,_ Miun replied, surprising me, _We need to head back as soon as possible._

_All right._

"What's your name?" Miun asked.

"Tim."

"We need to take you to our superior. Trust me, you'll be safe."

Tim nodded without hesitation. 

The three of us walked back in to the other chamber where the two bandits were still unconscious. _Mieu, use Res on them. I'll start back with Tim._

_They'll need a hospital if their jaws don't set properly._ It was very unlikely, but possible.

_Then they'll have to drag themselves there._ Miun replied.

Miun dropped me back at our house. After that, she went to Jager's office to report what happened. It turned out General Pyre had come from the capital and was waiting for her. He told her that he'd let her know if Tim's story checked out.


	5. Finding a Surprising Box

**April 14th, AW1276, Mieu and Miun's house, Techna, Palma**

The moving man and I stood on the front porch, watching Mieu and the moving companies' cyborg move a bed off the truck.

Another car drove up and parked ahead of the moving van. Carl, who was a member of Eagle Team, and Tim climbed out. I turned to the moving man and said, "Excuse me," then I jogged up to Carl. "Hi, Carl. Come to see my new place?"

"Yeah," Carl replied, not missing a beat, "I brought you a housewarming present." He handed me an envelope.

"Is my cousin going to stay with me?" I said, jerking my head at Tim.

"Yeah," Carl said. "I've got to get going. Nice seeing you." He climbed back into his car and drove off.

I told Tim to wait inside while the rest of the furniture to be offloaded. I went back and stood next to the moving man. On the outside, I looked like a somewhat bored young woman. On the inside, I was somewhat worried about what envelope contained.

At last the loading was done. I thanked the driver and went inside. I made sure the windows were fully opaque and sat down on our new couch. I opened the envelope.

_What's that?_ Mieu radioed me before I had the change to remove the envelope's contents. I told her. Inside the envelope was a single piece of paper.

"Miun," it read. It was Pyre's handwriting. "As Tim claimed, he is a Earthman. However, he doesn't have anything to do what the Earthmen have done to Palma. He does, however, have information that will be very useful to us. I've sent him to you for protection. Tim has quite a story to tell you - ask him."

"Go ahead and tell Mieu about the Earthmen. She would find out anyway, unless you took ridiculous measures to prevent it. I don't want to force you or Tim to watch everything you say in front of her. You all have enough secrets to keep as it is - you all don't need any more between you and your sister."

"Good work, Miun - General Pyre."

"One last thing." This was scribbled on the bottom of the page, "Those bandits were arrested at Techna Hospital last night."

I radioed Mieu about what the letter had said, and about the Earthmen. 

_Kind of throws history into a new perspective, doesn't it?_ Mieu noted. _But why are the Earthmen doing this?_

I looked at Tim and asked him. He shrugged. "I don't know."

"Yesterday, you said you knew who we are. Do you know what we are?" I asked him.

"Yeah," He said. "You're both sapient androids."

"Did Pyre tell you that?"

"No," Tim said.

"Well, then... how do you know?" Mieu asked, released from having to act like a typical cyborg.

"I told General Pyre how," Tim said. "And he told me not to tell you. Something about a paradox."

"A paradox?" I said. "So that means that either us or you have traveled back in time."

Tim stayed silent. I smiled at him. "Good. You're going to have to keep secrets - I'll go over the ground rules later. Now, Pyre told us you have a story to tell us."

"Yes." He took a deep breath. "It all started when I won the only internship to the Mother Brain program. I've always had an interest in AIs ever since I was little, and Mother Brain was supposed to be the most intelligent one ever made."

"Mother Brain!" Mieu exclaimed. "Not _the_ Mother Brain!"

Tim nodded. "Yes... I think."

_"Before you all ask us what Mother Brain is," Mieu said, "I'll tell you. Mother Brain was going to be the AI that ran the Mars Colony - which building was supposed to begin in 2092. Mother Brain, as Tim said, was the most advanced AI Earth had ever made up to that point. Scientists both back in the 2080s and today agree that given enough time, Mother Brain could become self-aware. _

_"In Palma, Mother Brain was officially tasked with running the colonies of Motavia and Dezoris - the second and fourth planets of the Algo system. Unofficially, it was monitoring everything in the Algo system: communications, records, everything."_

"It was the day that we finally finished the project," Tim continued, "and all the scientists were having a party. I needed to go home and finish some homework, so I left early."

"The next thing I knew, I was aboard the _Noah_ with a man who I had never seen before shaking me awake." He took another deep breath. "We... we went to the _Noah's_ meeting hall and waited with the other crew of the Noah... it seemed like a couple hundred people of so. Suddenly, a bell rang, and... and... the entire room broke out in cheers." I could see his eyes welling with tears, but somehow he kept himself together. "I asked the man who brought me what that meant, and he..."

He choked up. "It's all right," I said, full knowing that it wasn't all right, whatever it was. "It's over. You're safe here with us."

"He... he said that the sensors had detected the nuclear war on Earth that... the bastards on the ship had planned!" Tim finally lost it, and burst into tears. I hugged him and let him cry into my shoulder. I felt anger well up inside me. To corrupt on civilization was bad enough... but to destroy their own home, killing countless people... that was another.

"We need to stop them," I said, letting my anger flood into my voice.

Mieu's face didn't hide the fact that she felt the same as I did. "Yes," Her voice had a hard edge which I only rarely heard, "We must. They're monsters that don't deserve to live."

I didn't hide the surprised look on my face. I wasn't surprised at what she said - I agreed with it - but that she said it. I knew, without a doubt, she meant it.

Tim's tears finally stopped flowing. I wiped his face with the sleeve of my shirt and asked him gently, "What happened next?"

Tim's voice was hoarse. "I was forced into a stasis tube. I don't know how long I was in stasis for. After I woke up I was forced into Mother Brain's control room," he paused to drink the water Mieu had offered him, "and they demanded that I enter my password into Mother Brain. I had the same access as everyone else on the project, so my password would allow them to do anything."

"Why did they need it?" I asked.

"I don't know. I refused to give it to them."

"Good for you!" Mieu smiled at him.

Tim smiled weakly in return. "Thanks. After I refused, the man who brought me said "Dark Force" aloud and I felt... this evil surround me. Suddenly, I was surrounded by a warm, comforting light... and when it had vanished, I was in a forest next to a box."

"A box? What was in it?" I asked.

"I don't know. I guess I was in daze... I wandered off."

"Where you were captured by the bandits and we found you." I finished the story.

"That box may be important." Mieu said.

"Yes," I nodded. "Tim, do you remember anything about where you were when you... appeared on Palma?"

"I remember seeing a huge rock," he said.

I went over to the computer and displayed a picture of Giant's Rock, which was reasonably close to where the bandit's cave was. "Does this look like it?" I rotated the picture around so he could see the rock from all angles.

"I think. I'm sorry... I can't remember exactly."

"Don't be sorry. It's somewhere to start." Mieu said.

"We can track your tracks back to the box," I said. "That might take awhile to find your tracks, though, depending how close you got to the rock." I shut the computer down. "Are you up to coming with us tomorrow?"

He nodded.

"I guess I'll need to go out. We'll need food, silverware, plates, more glasses, toiletries... humans make things so complicated!" I grinned at Tim. "You can help Mieu sort out the furniture, or you can just rest. I'll be back."

**April 15th, AW 1276, Mieu and Miun's House**

The bacon sizzled away as Mieu dealt with the eggs. I sat on the couch, watching the morning news, There wasn't anything noteworthy, except for the large rainstorm that would be moving in later today.

"Maybe we should wait for tomorrow. We don't want Tim to get sick." Mieu said from the kitchen.

"I bought him a jacket, sleeping bag, and a weather proof tent yesterday," I replied. "He'll be fine."

"Good thing I cooked enough food last night for a three day search," Mieu said.

"I offered to buy pre made stuff, you know. You didn't have to make enough for us, either."

"I know," Mieu checked the biscuits in the oven, "but it gave me something to do."

Tim came shuffling into the living room, wearing the pajamas I had bought him. "Good morning," he yawned.

"Did we wake you?" I said, "You can go back to sleep if you want, it's only seven in the morning."

"It's OK," he sat down next to me. "What smells so good?"

"Bacon, eggs, and homemade biscuits," Mieu said.

Tim didn't say anything at first, but a second later, he blurted out, "Bacon? From a pig?"

"What else?" Mieu said, sounding a little confused.

"But... pigs are from Earth," Tim said. "I had a pot bellied pig when I was little."

"You'll recognize a lot of things that are from Earth, I believe," I said. "But the pig is an interesting case - it was here on Palma before the Earthmen arrived. Like humans, cows, and chickens, it doesn't share a common ancestry with anything else on the planet."

"Enough with the history lesson, Miun!" Mieu joked as she brought the food out to the living room table. "Breakfast is served."

"This is good," Tim mumbled with his mouth full.

"Thank you," Mieu said.

I swallowed my bite of the salty bacon and set my fork down. "You have any idea what's in that box, Tim?"

He shrugged. "I don't know."

"Miun," Mieu said as I spread some butter on a warm biscuit, "shouldn't you let Pyre know what we're going to do?"

"Yeah, we should." I replied. "I can't think of a way to let Pyre know on the phone without any outside ears getting suspicious. We'll have to go tell Jager - he's got a secure line to General Pyre."

We finished breakfast and Tim got dressed. "Before we leave, " I said to him, "can you sit down for a minute?"

He sat down, a questioning look on his face.

I sat next to him. "I have something very important to tell you," I said to him firmly, "so please listen. Outside this house, you cannot, under _any_ circumstances, speak about who we all are."

He nodded.

"All three of our livelihoods depend on our secrets being kept: The Earthmen would probably love to get their hands on you, my very existence is illegal, and Mieu's existence is legal only by a thread."

"What would happen if your secret got out?" He asked.

"The law says we'd get shipped off Palma - probably to Motavia or Dezoris." I answered. "However, if the Earthmen found out, they have enough influence to make us both 'disappear'. That isn't all that important, because our secret won't get out, will it?" 

Tim shook his head emphatically.

"Good. Now, I am a 25 year-old Army Colonel. Yes, I know I look a bit younger than that, but that's what my ID says. Mieu is a regular cyborg, so treat her like it." I realized that Tim probably had no clue how to treat her. "Treat her like a pet that has to follow every instruction."

"Don't worry, I won't be offended." Mieu said. "I'm used to it."

"And you're my cousin that has come to live with me because..." I really didn't want to say it, but it was the truth, and the truth is easier to keep, "your parents have died." I saw it on his face that it hit home, but he held himself together. "Got it?"

He nodded.

"Let's get going."

We drove to the base. Mieu and Tim waited in the car as I went into headquarters. "I'm here to see Commandant Jager," I told the secretary.

The secretary motioned to Jager's office door. "Go right on ahead."

I opened Jager's door slowly. To my absolute surprise, everything seemed normal. Jager wasn't even wearing a large hat!

My hopes of normalcy were dashed when the commandant held up a sign saying, "Take a paper and pen. They are listening." I wrote my plans down on a piece of paper and handed it to. He scribbled back, "I'll let General Pyre know. Good luck."

I walked back outside and climbed back into the car. "Do you need something to do back there?" I asked Tim, "It's going to be a fairly long drive."

"No, I'll be fine." He said.

It took us over two hours before Giant's Rock appeared off in the distance. I had kept my eye on Tim the entire drive. He had seemed to be lost in thought, and I let him be. "Hang on," I said as I prepared to turn the light buggy off the road. "This will be bumpy!"

The buggy had surprisingly good off road capabilities and I drove us up to the rock with no problems. "I'll search this side, and you two can search the other," I said.

Since we were still in eyeshot of the road, I couldn't break out in a 25 mile per hour jog to search quicker. Because of that, it took me two hours before I found Tim's faint tracks, rather than twenty minutes. I radioed Mieu and she drove the buggy and Tim over.

Tim looked around. "I don't see anything."

"A trained human eye could, if they knew what they were looking for," I said. "Your tracks are there." I looked up at the sky, which had clouded over and now was starting to darken. "It's going to rain soon."

"Yeah," Mieu said. "You hungry, Tim?"

He nodded.

"OK, then," I said. "You two stay here, and I'll follow the tracks. I'll radio if I find anything."

I followed the tracks through the light forest to a stand of trees, where they stopped. I saw a depression in the grass where the box must have been. I also saw three more sets of tracks leading from the trees back towards the road, which I wasn't all that far from. I radioed Mieu, and then I followed the new tracks.

The tracks reached the road and stopped. I cursed silently under my breath - whoever these tracks belonged to must have driven off. Then I got a wild, illogical hunch... what if they didn't drive away?

I crossed the road and for the second time today, I was utterly surprised. The tracks continued towards the hills. I waited for Mieu to drive up before continuing.

My sister hid the buggy in a small group of trees, and then she and Tim walked over to me. I pointed out the tracks. "Someone has your box, Tim."

These tracks were obvious, and Tim looked at them. "Are we going to follow them?" 

"You bet. You stay between Mieu and I, all right? That way, if anything happens, we can protect you."

We followed the tracks to a sheer rock face. Brambles and grass climbed up the wall for a good five feet. "There's a cave behind those bushes." I said, pointing it out. "Someone must have planted these plants there."

"I can't see anything," Tim said.

"I'm not surprised. It's hidden very well." I said. I walked up and pushed the bushes aside. "Remember, you stay between Mieu and I.

We entered the cave. Unlike the cave the bandits hid in, this cave had smooth walls. "Someone dug this cave," I whispered.

I took a step forward and felt the ground shift slightly. Suddenly, the cave was lit up with sensor emissions.

"They know we're here," I said, for Tim's benefit.

His eyes filled with a combination of excitement and fear. "Should we go back?" His voice quivered.

"No, we'll never find the box that way," I said.

The tunnel ran deep into the hill, and connected up with other tunnels. The sound of something sliding open stopped us cold. I heard footsteps, and shortly afterward a light bounced down a tunnel. "Get behind us, Tim," I hissed.

"Hands up!" A man yelled. Four people came into view. Two helmeted and armored men looked down the sights of there assault rifles at us, flanking a man and a woman. 

The woman looked to be my apparent age. She had short black hair and dark brown eyes which matched her black leather coat. To my surprise, she motioned for the men to lower their weapons. "They're all right, Zyram.

The man, who looked to be in his early thirties, turned to the woman. "Are you sure, Maya?"

Maya nodded. "Yes, dear. Have you known me not to be sure? You two!" She was talking to the armed men now, "take the cyborg and the boy to the hotel and make sure they're comfortable."

"Yes ma'am. Sir, if you and the cyborg will follow me..." Tim and Mieu walked off with the guards.

Zyram looked me over. "What's this about, Maya?"

"I'll tell you in a bit. I'll bring her to the office."

"All right, dear," He left down the tunnel.

I had my third utter surprise of the day when Maya said to me, "Hi, Miun."

"How did you know my name?"

A slight smile flashed on her face. "I'm your eldest sister, Miun."

_Prove it,_ I radioed her.

Claws extended from her wrist. _This proof enough, sister?_ The radio message had the proper encryption, which only one of my sisters or the single radio Pyre had could do. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions, but let's get out of these tunnels."

I followed my sister through more tunnels until we reached a steel door set into the tunnel wall. Maya punched in a code on the door's keypad, and slid it open. We went down a steel lined corridor to another door. Maya opened it... and I gasped.

"Welcome to New Camineet!" Maya swept her arm at the vista that was in front of us. The entire inside of the hill had been hollowed out into a great cavern that was three miles across. Projectors on the cavern's walls and ceilings gave the illusion that the cavern was under open air. Rain fell on the city that filled the cavern's floor, like it was no doubt raining outside. From my vantage point, halfway up the cavern wall, I could see that the city was much like any other: It had homes, streets, parks, markets, and farms.

Questions filled my head - before I can decide on one, Maya kindly directed the conversation. "My husband is the mayor of New Camineet. He knows more about the city's history that I."

I looked at her in surprise. "Your husband?"

Maya's lips turned upward. "Zyram. We first met the day I was awakened. Slowly things grew from there and we got married four years later - right about the time you were activated, actually."

"Zyram was at Sa Riik labs?"

Maya shook her head. "I was built in New Camineet and I went through virtual reality and awakening down here as well. Our father need to prove that his ideas worked. Since he didn't have the needed permission, he needed somewhere secret to do it. NC is about as secret as you can get."

"Our father? Who is he?" I wasn't quite sure why meeting my father and creator was important to me. I had a loving mother and father in virtual reality... and I'm almost 30. I'm supposed to be independent, right?

We boarded an elevator that would take us to the cavern floor. "He's asked me not to tell you. To be honest, I'm not sure why."

I frowned. "I hope I see him some day." My father _was_ that important to me. Why?

"He regards you, I, and Mieu as his daughters. I'm sure he'll reveal himself to you when the time is right."

Maya had a car waiting for us, and she drove us down to the center of the city.

Zyram's office was unremarkable, save for a rich wood desk. Maya sat in the chair next to her husband. "Please, sit," Zyram pointed at the chair across his desk.

"This is my sister Miun." Maya said.

"So this is the Miun the General and my wife have been talking about, eh?" Zyram held out his hand. "It's nice to meet you."

I shook his hand. "Likewise... brother-in-law." I had never thought I'd say that... at least, not for quite a while.

"I'd expect General Pyre to warn us before you arrived." Maya said.

"Well..." I told them what happened.

"I found that box yesterday," Maya said, "during one of my patrols outside. I had it brought back here, and I'll have it delivered to the room were Tim and Mieu are staying."

"Thank you."

"I'm sure you have questions." Zyram said, "In the strictest secrecy, of course."

"Of course." I chuckled. "I've had so many questions that I don't know which to ask first." So I just began to ask questions. When I was drained of inquiry, I had learned that New Camineet was created as a place that ancient Palma's traditions and culture could be maintained so that it could be reintroduced when the Earthmen had finally been defeated. The cavern the city had been built in was there long before the city was even considered - artifacts dating from a million years ago had been found in the cavern.The city had been founded by Queen Alis nearly a thousand years ago. Alis had defeated the evil Earthman tyrant Lassic but couldn't eradicate the Earthmen from the government entirely.

_"Camineet," Miun said to the class, "is the capital of Palma and Algo. So, in a way, New Camineet is a fitting name for the city.. as it's the seat of true Palman culture."_

When we were done, Maya stood. "I'll take you back to Tim and Mieu." She bent over and kissed Zyram on the cheek. "I'll be back soon."

It turned out that my sister and Tim were only a short walk away, in the cities only hotel. As we were walking, Maya said, "We're planning to have a kid, Zyram and I."

"I'm sure that you'll be a fine mother to whomever you adopt." I said. 

"Thanks." Her tone turned more serious. "Don't tell Mieu anything."

I sighed. "I know the drill, Maya." A simple question could have Mieu's Slavedriver spill the beans. I knew that the Slavedriver had been programmed to be "forgetful" about some things, but I didn't know what they were and how far that "forgetfulness" went.

As we walked up the small hotel's front stairs, I asked, "Why does New Camineet have a hotel, anyway?"

"We do get visitors from time to time." She knocked on a door.

Tim opened it. In the back of the room, I saw Mieu scramble for a proper cyborg like position. "It's OK, Mieu. She knows."

Mieu sat on the bed as Maya closed the door. "I'm Maya Kilan, the chief of security here."

"Where is here?" Mieu asked.

"I can't tell you, sis." I said.

I saw a flicker of disappointment cross her face as she nodded.

"Has the box arrived?" Maya asked.

"Yeah!" Tim was excited. "I was waiting for you." Mieu lifted the box on to the bed.

Maya nodded. "Good. I'll see you off before you leave tomorrow. Have a pleasant night." She left.

I looked at the box closely. It was roughly three feet wide and high, and it was made of an opaque blue material. I couldn't see any way to open it. "We might have to break it open."

Tim placed his hand on the top of the box. "It's smooth-" He was cut off by the sudden loud pop the box gave off. The top of the box had separated from the rest. "Whoa."

I carefully removed the lid and the three of us peered inside. Tim pulled out what looked like a lowercase T on a chain.

"This... this is my St. Christopher's medal that my Grandmother gave me. But... I wasn't wearing it that day..." His voice trailed off as he reached back into the box and pulled out a thick binder. "This is the family scrapbook." He left it shut and set it aside. I was curious, but I let the binder be.

Next he pulled out a small box. "These are the family recipes." He handed the box to Mieu. "You'll probably have an interest in these... I can't cook."

Miun smiled as she accepted them. "I'll do my best to make them."

Most of the contents of the box were pretty mundane: Some of Tim's clothes (which wouldn't look out of place here on Palma), a music/video player, and a couple books and videodisks.

At the very bottom of the box, though, were two items that interested me - a book entitled "A Complete History of Earth - Unabridged Edition" and an atlas. "I've never seen these before," Tim said.

"I'd like to take a look at these when we get back," I said.

"Sure." Tim looked into the box again, and came up grinning. "My chess set and playing cards!" He pulled out a black and white checkered board and a bag containing pieces and two decks of cards.

I looked at the rain running down the window. "At least we'll have something to do while we're cooped up in here."


	6. Dark Night? No problem!

**September 13th, 3086, Mission High School**

"We left New Camineet the next day," Miun said. "When we got back to Techna, General Pyre was waiting for us. He thanked us for our good work, and asked for the history book and atlas."

Mieu clapped her hands. "OK. Homework tonight is just your typical summary. Any questions?"

Nicole's hand raised. "Why do you eat? You don't need to, right?"

Miun and Mieu resisted bursting into laughter. "No, we don't," Mieu said. "We eat for the taste of it. We do have sensors that equate to the human taste buds and nose - plus sensors that would tell us what exactly it was we put in our mouth. Any other questions? No? Class dismissed."

**Tuesday, September 14th, 3086, Mission High School**

"I didn't hear from Pyre," Miun said after the class settled in. "After a couple days, I...

**April 20th, AW1276, Miun's and Mieu's house**

"I'm getting worried about Tim," I said to Mieu as she cleaned up from lunch. Tim, in the last couple of days, had sunk into a deep depression. I had an inkling of what he was going through. I tried to help him through it, but I feared it wouldn't be enough.

"Poor kid," Mieu plopped herself on the easy chair opposite mine in the living room. "I think he'll pulled through."

"I'm not so sure, sis." I replied. "I think he needs professional help."

"But, sis..."

"I know, I know." I stood up. "Maybe Pyre will know someone. I've got something else on my mind to ask him, anyway." I walked down the hallway and peaked in on Tim. He was nibbling on his grilled cheese sandwich and looking through his photo album. I let him be and went into my room and got changed into my uniform.

When I came out back into the living room, Mieu said, "You never wear your uniform to see Jager."

"I'm going to Camineet to talk to Pyre directly."

Mieu nodded. "All right. I'll keep Tim company."

"Thank you, sis."

The nearest teleport station was down the street. The station's attendant looked me over. "Destination, Colonel?"

"Camineet Palace."

"That'll be 75000 meseta."

_"10 meseta, the currency of Algo, had the buying power of roughly one dollar. So, my teleport cost me about 7500 dollars." Miun explained._

_"7500 bucks!" Nicole blurted out. "That's 3700 cheeseburgers!"_

_Where did that come from? Miun thought to herself. "Well, yes, I suppose. Anyway..."_

I handed him my payment card. "Thank you, " he said after he handed it back to me. "Please step on the pad."

I followed the attendant's instructions. After a second, there was a blue flash of light and the sign that said "Techna Central" now said "Camineet Palace."

I stepped out of the station into a nice warm day. Unlike Techna, Camineet was in Palma's northern hemisphere, so it was only a couple weeks before summer began. On the way to Camineet's military base. I passed through the park in front of the Royal Palace. In the park I saw a small group of protesters carrying signs like "Power to the People!", "Bring Parliament Back!" and "Democracy Now!". A couple of Camineet's finest were watching over them, looking quite bored.

I shook my head as I passed the display. There had been many groups that had tried to restore the parliament since it's disbandment five hundred years ago. None of them really got close to that goal.

When I told the secretary at Pyre's office that I would like to see him, she began to say, "Ma'am, General Pyre is - "

"Tell him Colonel Rydori is here to see him. He'll see me."

She gave me a look that said "They all say that", but she picked up the handset. "Sir, a Colonel Rydori to see you. Yes. Yes, sir. Right away." She hung up and looked at me in surprise. "Go right on in, ma'am."

I went into Pyre's office. It was very spartan - the only decoration was the picture of his wife and daughter on his desk. "Miun! What brings you all the way here?"

I decided to deal with the most important thing first. "It's Tim, sir..."

Pyre held up a hand. "Drop the sir when we're in private, Miun. Call me Ewin."

I nodded. "Tim's deeply depressed. I think he needs professional help."

"I see. I can understand why... I don't think any of us would be quite right after what he's been through." Pyre drummed his fingers on his desk. "I'll give Zyram a call and ask him if he has a psych down there. Anything else, Miun?"

"Yes," I said. "Ewin... when you released me, you said that you trusted me."

"More than anyone, Miun."

"But... why didn't you tell me about New Camineet, or Maya?" I let the small amount of pent up anger I had into my voice.

Pyre looked down at his desk. "I'm sorry, Miun. I truly am. You're right - you should know everything." He picked up his handset. "Sari? Cancel all my appointments for today. Thanks." Over the next two hours, he told me a lot. I didn't know that it was everything, of course, but my instincts told me it was close. The only thing that I asked that he didn't tell me was my father's identity.

_Eric lifted his head from his desk and asked, "Are you going to tell us what Pyre told you?"_

_"In time," Mieu replied. "There's not need for a two hour lecture, is there?"_

"I have a mission for you," Pyre said after we'd finished discussing secrets, "if you want."

"Of course," I replied with giving it a moment's thought.

"Over the last few weeks," Pyre said. "we've noticed an increase in illegal weapon movements. This maybe only a temporarily fluctuation, but I'm not so sure." He brought up a map of Techna on his computer. "Techna police have found a probable cache of illegal weapons at a warehouse here on the banks of the Techna River. The TPD would be able to handle it, of course, but we may be able to find out more if you and Eagle Team handle it."

"Of course I'll go," Not saying 'sir' felt very odd to me, "Although I'd personally rather be taking the fight to the Earthmen."

"All in good time, my dear android." He opened his desk and handed me two cards. One was a transporter pass, so I wouldn't ever have to pay the exorbitant fee. 

The other... "This is an invitation to Techna's winter solstice ball!" I exclaimed. "What about your wife?"

"She'll be on Dezoris visiting family, so I'd like you to accompany me."

"I'd be honored. Thank you, Ewin."

I teleported back to Techna and met with Eagle Team at the base. That night, we took up positions around the warehouse.

_Everyone ready?_ I radioed the rest of Eagle Team. They checked in saying that they were.

It was dark out and the warehouse didn't have any lights on. I couldn't detect any active sensors at work, and both the black body suit and my chilled body temperature would help me avoid detection on any passive systems.

I hopped over the ten foot high fence. At the apex of my jump, I saw two men in front of the warehouse - the lit end of there smoke sticks bright thermally. I landed silently and made my way through the stacked containers to the warehouse wall. Pressing myself against it, I carefully moved towards the front of the building where I could hear the two men whispering. The acrid smell of Enja smoke wafted past my nose as I reached the corner.

I pulled the stunner out of its holster on my left hip, leaned around the corner, and fired it at the closest man. He collapsed in a heap, his smoke stick rolling across the cold pavement. The other man startled and then he too slumped to the ground.

I holstered the stunner and quickly went up to the two unconscious men. I removed a pair of syringes from my breast pocket and injected one into each of the men's necks, ensuring that they'd be out for far longer than the couple of minutes that the stunner had put them out for. I frisked them and found a keycard.

I swiped the keycard through the lock of the warehouses side door. I heard the door unlock and I opened it slowly, hoping the hinges didn't squeak. The hinges didn't but as soon as I opened it far enough to squeeze through, a loud buzzer sounded through the warehouse.

I forced the door opened and dove behind one of the many stacks of crates that filled the warehouse. I pulled the pistol from the hostler on my right hip.

"Dege? Kire?" A man called from the rear of the warehouse. 

I could have mimicked the voices of the men outside if I had heard them at more at a whisper. I made sure the safety on my pistol was off, and I radioed the rest of Eagle Team that I had entered the building. I heard someone move towards the front of the warehouse, and I made sure I was out of sight. I heard the man go outside.

"Kire! Dege!" The man exclaimed, and I heard the metal snick of a gun's safety coming off. "Come out, wherever you are!" He called loudly.

I pulled out one of the empty syringes from my pocket and threw it in a corner. It clacked on the cement floor. The man was obviously startled and let loose with a long burst of his gun. I used the noise to sneak up behind him.

"Ahem," I tapped him on the shoulder.

The light green haired man whipped around and froze as he caught sight of my gun mere inches from his face. "Drop it." I said sternly.

The submachine gun clattered to the floor.

I radioed Eagle Team to come in and clear the rest of the warehouse. After the three men had been carried away, Carl came up to me. "Good work, Miun."

I pulled off my mask and goggles. "Thanks."

"Those three probably owe you there life."

I nodded. "Yeah, they probably do." 


	7. Ebay for Bombs!

**April 21st, AW1276, General Pyre's office, King Arramiz II Military Base, Camineet, Palma**

Pyre called me to his office early the next day. "Good morning, Miun," Pyre took a sip of his steaming hot coffee. "Good work last night."

"Thank you." I said.

"Unfortunately, the Techna Police Department's information was incorrect. There was no weapons the warehouse save what the guards were carrying."

"Figures," I rolled my eyes. "What was in that warehouse."

"Drugs... a lot of them. The largest bust in Techna for a long time." Pyre took another sip of his coffee. "There's no possible connection between them and the weapon sales."

"At least it wasn't a waste," I said. A little part of me thought _except for my time_.

"We had another raid in Camineet led by your sister Nia. We found weapons, but..." He sighed deeply and handed me a folder. "Here, read this."

Nia's mission was a lot like mine - raid a warehouse with a special ops team as backup. When she entered the warehouse, she found two dozen people there. Apparently, there was some sort of move going on. According to Nia, what she did was "the only way she could think of to complete the mission."

I turned the page, and a man who had been disemboweled by 4 deep cuts greeted me. Had I been human, there would have been a good chance that I would have vomited Mieu's tasty breakfast. The other pictures in the folder were no less gruesome. The last photograph was on Nia herself, her arms, front, and claws covered in blood, standing with a contented look on her face.

Nia, the report said, had been shot multiple times during the fight. I had learned yesterday that her armor (and the rest of my younger sisters) wasn't as good as mine, but it still turned the small arms fire easily. Her repair systems had sealed the holes in her skin by the time the picture were taken.

I closed the folder and handed it back to Pyre. "How could she do this!" My voice quivered with anger. "Two dozen people?"

Pyre looked down at his desk. "I'm partially to blame, I fear,"

"No, Ewin," I said, "Nia's choices are her own." I knew why he felt that way. Pyre told me yesterday that my younger sisters didn't go through the same virtual reality childhood that Maya, Mieu, and I did, and didn't have the same appreciation for humanity that I did. Because they didn't go through virtual reality, they needed some sort of personality, so when my younger sisters were built, they were given a "Basic Personality Imprint". All of them were different, but they all had things in common: All my younger sisters very confident, determined, and independent.

This didn't excuse Nia's actions. The Basic Personality Imprint was only the starting point of my sister's personality, and over the past four years I had seen them change. Some of my sisters had begun to understand humanity. Nia, though... that confidence quickly turned into "I'm Right" stubbornness, and after she got the idea that since there were eight billion humans in the Algo system, they were expendable... not to mention inferior.

If I were put in Nia's situation, I would first radio for instructions. If I did have to kill them, I would have done it with a single shot to the head.

Pyre took a deep pull off his coffee. "You're right, Miun. The only time Nia will get a mission is when she's working with you." He stuffed the folder back into his desk. "Now, I have a mission for you, if you want it."

"Of course, sir."

"This'll be the last mission for awhile. I promise." Pyre said. "We found out that there will be a black market weapon sale happening today. Our contacts in the black market have confirmed this and given us, as some risk, its location. I'd like you to go and see what's going on."

"Understood." I said. "May I ask - why me?"

"Because you won't miss or forget anything. Even the best trained operative may miss or forget a minor detail that could make all the difference. Also, you can take... decisive action, if need be."

I nodded.

"Wait in the lobby for Eagle Team. They'll have a case of meseta for you. Buy something if you have to. Good luck, Miun."

I went back to Techna and meet with Eagle Team to discuss the mission. After that, I still had a couple hours before I had to leave the base. I reviewed both the weapons that had gone missing over from military stocks over the last five years, and the most likely people I would see at the sale. The last thing I did was change my appearance - I now had short, light brown hair, brown eyes, and a light scar running down one cheek. 

It was time. I rode a motorcycle down to the industrial section of Techna and parked next to a run down building. There was a burly man standing at the front doorway. "I'm here for the plant sale." I said.

"Plant sale?" The man replied, sounding confused. "What plant sale."

I clicked open the briefcase I was carrying and flashed him the stacks of meseta notes inside.

"Oh. _That_ plant sale." The man said, "One second." He squawked his radio three times, and a few moments later another man emerged from inside. "Follow him."

The other man led me down a long flight of steps to a steel door. He pressed a button, and a moment later the door opened. We entered a bustling casino. Gambling was illegal across the entire planet, but the police tended not to bother with underground casinos like this one.

I was led to a back room. The man handed me a sheet of paper. "Just take a seat."

The room had three dozen chairs set out in three rows. No one was in the room, save for an older gentleman sitting in the front row. I sat in the back row.

I read the paper that I had been handed. It seemed that the weapon sale would be held as an auction. Most of the lots where civilian weapons modified for better performance. A few lots were of stolen military equipment... and the last lot... made me stifle a gasp.

A working Type-3 Cobalt Bomb. A bomb powerful enough to obliterate ten city blocks. The bomb must have been the one missing from the weapon depot near the city of Ahire a year ago. I knew I had to get that weapon off the streets.

The room filled and a scrawny, frazzled looking man came to the podium at the front of the room. It turned out he was the auctioneer. I sat through the lots. I made some bids, of course, but I wanted to have all the money Pyre had given me for the last lot.

"And now for the last lot," the auctioneer said in his high, nasally voice, "a Type-3 Cobalt Bomb. Starting bid is 10 million meseta."

Three people raised their hands, including myself. One was the elderly gentleman in the front row. The other was a woman, about 30, with light green hair. "11," The auctioneer counted off, "12, 13, 14, 15, 16..."

The elder gentleman lowered his hand. I hoped the other woman would drop out soon. Pyre only gave me twenty million.

"17," The auctioneer continued. "18, 19, 20..." The woman and I looked at each other. "21..." I lowered my hand, a curse echoing in my head.

"Going once... twice... sold for 21 million meseta." The auctioneer said. The woman came up to the podium and set stacks of meseta on the table, and took her prize.

I stood up. I wasn't sure what to do. Was my revealing my true nature worth it? I was in disguise, but if word got to the wrong people that some sort of android existed, it could be disastrous. I knew I had a role to play in the liberation of Algo, and I couldn't do much if I and the rest of my sisters were shipped off to Motavia.

The woman made the choice for me as she pulled out a small tube from her pocket. She pressed the red button on top, and disappeared in a flash of blue light.

It was an "escapipe" - a short range teleporter than would send her and the bomb to a receiver not far away. They were, naturally, only allowed in the hands of the military. The casino was heavily shielded, and I couldn't detect the faint energy signature that the receiver gave off when the woman arrived. The same shielding prevented me from getting a signal out to Eagle Team. Fortunately...

Carl jumped when I appeared next to him in a flash of blue light. I had used my own escapipe. I quickly told him what had happened. He radioed the rest of Eagle Team, who were watching the building from different locations, but none of them had noticed anything. We searched for an hour, but we came of

It was early evening in Techna when I reported to Pyre. I told him what had happened, and finished with, "I'm sorry I failed you, sir."

Pyre looked me in the eye. "Nonsense. You're not perfect, and I know you did your best. Already our top agents are looking for where that bomb went." He pulled the atlas and history book from Tim's box and slid them across the desk. "If you need to take you mind off what happened, take a look at these. We haven't figured out that history book at all."

I took the books. "Thank you... Ewin." I left and took the teleporter back home.

When I walked in, Mieu and Tim were having dinner. I wasn't in the mood for talking, though, so I just nodded at them and went to my room. I put the books on my desk and flopped on my bed. I couldn't stop replaying what had happened today in my mind, and what I could have done differently.

"Sis?" Mieu peeked her head in. "You all right?"

I told her what had happened today. "I just... I think I could have done better."

"What's done is done," Mieu said. "There's no need to be down about it. Now come out and eat." She flashed me a smile.

Dinner was very good that night...


	8. And the award goes too

**Thursday, September 16th, 3086, Mission High School**

"Two weeks passed between my failure to stop the sale of the bomb and the Techna's Winter Solstice Ball. " Miun said after Mieu opened the class. "Not a lot happened between during that time. A therapist came from New Camineet to see Tim, and that combined with medicine helped him to come out of his depression."

"I read the history book and atlas that was in Tim's box. The atlas was mundane, but the history book was... amazing, to say the least." Miun wrote 'Nelson' on the board, followed by a seemingly random series of squiggles. "The whole book was written like this - in such small print that it was near the edge of my ability to read it. The beginning of the book was a table translating these squiggles into words. For example," Miun turned back to the board and wrote under the squiggles, 'Nelson hoisted on his flagship before the battle: England expects that every man will do his duty.'

"I can't help thinking that the book was written for me. No human could read it, and a cyborg couldn't understand it. Of my sisters, I was the only one with a history degree." She paused. "The information in the book wasn't any use to me on Palma - and that leads me to think that if someone put it there, they only did it to let me know that someone's watching 'behind the scenes', so to speak." She shook her head. "Here I am, an android, thinking that some greater power is guiding things. I know it sounds funny now, but... as the year goes on, you'll see why I think that way."

Nicole raised her hand. "What was the thing you found most history in Earth's history?"

Miun glanced at her sister, who nodded. "I found the actions between the Earth's nations to be fascinating. On Palma, having more that one country was a rarity. Yet, on Earth, there hundreds at times."

Miun cleared the light board. "It was the evening of the ball..."

**May 6th, AW1276, Miun and Mieu's house, Techna, Palma**

I reached behind my neck and closed the clasp on my necklace. The large blue jewel that hung on the gold chain was identical to the one that was set in Mieu's chest. Dr. Syre gave it to me that day I was awakened and told me never to lose it.

I looked in the bathroom mirror. I tugged at my black with red trim dress uniform, and my gold crossed swords insignia on my shoulders glinted in the light.

I went out into the living room, where Tim and Mieu were playing cards. "That looks good on you," Tim said.

"Thanks."

There was a knock on the door. It was the driver that Pyre had ordered. "Ready, ma'am?"

I nodded.

The Techna Winter Solstice Ball had its roots in the first winter after Techna's founding, where the colonists had a grand party to celebrate the harvest. Over time, it had evolved from a ball to a ball with some awards, to a little ball with awards for art, movies, and so forth.

We passed through a police cordon in front of the Techna Grand Hall. Photographer got as close as they could, ready to snap pictures of stars.

Pyre was waiting for me. "Good evening," he opened the door.

We walked together into the courtyard. Standing in the courtyard was a life sized statue of Queen Alis the Great, her sword lifted in the air. We went through the foyer and into the main hall. Pyre led me down the blue carpet past tables were celebrities were already enjoying _hors d'oeuvres_, over the small dance floor, and on to the stage.

There was a table set up on stage. "We'll be sitting here," Pyre said.

"With His Grace?"

Pyre nodded. As if on cue, the Duke of Techna walked out from backstage. "General Pyre," the duke said, extending his hand, "it's good to see you."

The Commanding General of the King's Army and a Duke were technically of equal rank, but Pyre bowed nevertheless as he shook the duke's hand. "And you, Your Grace. May I introduce my chief advisor, Colonel Miun Rydori."

"So young," The duke said to me, "yet the General holds you in high regard. It's a pleasure to meet you, Colonel."

I bowed. "It's a honor to meet you, Your Grace."

Pyre pulled out my chair before sitting himself. "Where is Mr. Sa Riik?"

"He had to use the faculties," The duke answered. "Here he comes now."

A tall man with straight black hair and green eyes sat down next to me. "Mr. Sa Riik," General Pyre said, "This is Colonel Miun Rydori. Miun, this is..."

"Akar Sa Riik, CEO of Sa Riik Robotics. It's a pleasure." I said.

Akar leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. "The pleasure is all mine, Miun."

The duke got up and stood at the podium. "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the 1532nd Techna Winter Solstice Ball. If you feel like dancing, now's the time. Maestro!"

"May I have a dance, Colonel?" Pyre had a slight smirk on his face.

"Of course!"

For all of Pyre's good traits leading men, he was a terrible dancer. After the third time he stepped on my foot, I said with a smile, "I'll have to buy new boots if you keep that up, sir."

He laughed. "I think that's enough dancing."

On the way back to the table, I whispered to Pyre, "Do Akar and the Duke know about me?"

"Just Akar."

Dinner was served and the award show was begun. I kept noticing Akar sneaking glances at me. He had this odd look on his face - I couldn't tell what it was.

Just after the award for the year's best computer game was announced, I needed a flurry of sensor sweeps around the building. The scans were of the same type that the Techna police sensor trucks used. I figured it was just a standard precaution.

The show continued and Mieu's and my favorite singer won song of the year. I mentioned to Pyre that she was my favorite, and, overhearing, the Duke said, "Well, go backstage and get her autograph!" I did, and returning to the table with a smile on my face, I noticed that Pyre was gone.

"Where's the General?" I whispered to Akar.

"He had to take a phone call."

I sat down. Pyre came out two minutes later and whispered in my ear, "Come with me."

I followed him to a secluded area backstage. "What is it?"

"The TPD got a call an half an hour ago stating that there is a bomb under this hall. They sent out sensor trucks, and... it seems we've found our mission cobalt bomb."

"I'm ready, sir." I said without hesitation.

"Thank you, Miun. We can't evacuate up here, Miun. It might cause a panic throughout Techna - and it would be bad even if the there was some sort of dummy rigged up instead of a real bomb."

"I understand, sir." I took off my necklace and handed it to him. "Where's the nearest sewer entrance?"

He led me to the women's bathroom. "Just outside the window. Eagle Team is coming - radio them when you're done." Pyre said. "Good luck."

The window is the bathroom was high on the wall and just big enough for me to squeeze through. I jumped up and hung on to the windowsill. I pushed the window open and pulled myself up and through. I tucked into a summersault while in the air and hit the ground rolling. I sprang to my feet and carefully removed the manhole cover and dropped into the sewer.

I landed on the walkway making almost no noise, thanks to the micro-sound cancellation field generators in my feet. The stench of the sewer was incredible. If I were human, I'd have been gagging and throwing up.

The TPD was still scanning up above, so I could use my own sensors without being detected. I found the bomb easily, and started to head that way.

_"What sensors do you have, anyway?" Nicole blurted out. Mieu stifled a chuckle._

_"Mieu and I have a special mesh inside our armor rib cage that can do basically any type of sensor sweep, including hyperwave."_

_"No way!" Eric exclaimed from the back. "My dad works at Boeing-Lockheed and he says that a HADAR unit would take up half this room!"_

_"Yes - Palma's are like that too. Our sensors are just one of the many things that we have that are far too advanced for Palma's technology." Miun said. "Anything else?"_

_"Wait," Nicole said, "Aren't hyperwave sensors used for detecting spaceships light years distant? Why do you need that?"_

_Miun nodded. "Most of the time, they are. We can retune our sensors to show us in great detail what is happening within a couple miles. However, there's not many opportunities for us to use it - it causes a great deal of radio interference, makes us light up like a floodlight on thermal scanners, and our makes our entire body hum very loudly. Neither of us got to use it on Palma except for once in testing."_

I came to a corner and I stopped. Something didn't feel right. I pressed myself against the slick wall and peeked around the corner.

Two men wearing gasmasks where sitting next to a sound cancellation field generator. One of them saw me and raised his rifle. I pulled my face back, and a bullet tore through the corner of the wall.

I realized instantly that this was an opportunity to take care of the two men without having them warn whomever else was down here. I stumbled back, and making sure the men could see me, fell off the walkway and in to the scummy water.

I swam to next to where the two men were and sprung from the water. I spread my arms and clotheslined both men while in the air, and the rifle fell to the ground. I landed on my feet and dove on the rifle and rolled back on my feet.

I shot the cancellation field generator twice and tossed the rifle in to the water. One man was laying motionless on the ground, and the other was slowly getting to his feet. I rushed over and punched him hard in the jaw, dropping him. I pulled off each man's gas mask and tossed those into the water.

I continued toward the bomb, and my path led to a rusty steel door. I opened it and found a ladder. I quickly climbed in and opened the door at the top of the ladder.

A short, dark blue haired man wearing a black cape looked at me when I opened the door. "So, they managed to sneak some one in?" He said. "My cyborg here," he patted the shoulder of the armored cyborg next to him, "will allow you live your final moments in peace, as long as you don't do anything stupid." He pulled out an escapipe. "I, of course, need to go." He pushed the button on the escapipe and disappeared.

I looked the cyborg over. I didn't know what type it was - it wasn't broadcasting the standard identification signal. It had a light cannon attached to one arm, and it was heavily armored. I wasn't punching through this cyborg's armor.

I charged it as fast as I could, my claws springing out from my wrists. I slashed two surprisingly deep cuts in the cyborg's armor before it grabbed me by the shoulder and tossed my 165 pound body aside, I twisted in the air and sprung off the wall back at the cyborg. The boom of the cyborg's cannon filled the small round, and three rounds exploding on my chest and stomach. My armor took the punishment, but the force of the explosions knocked me aside, and I slammed face first in the wall. I rolled on to my back and go to my feet.

I decided to try another tactic. I dodged side to side while edging closer to the cyborg. The cannon boomed again and again, but the worst that happened is that a shell nipped my arm. When I got close enough, I struck.

In a flurry, I drove my claws into the cyborg's eyes, and then I raked the red gem in the cyborg's chest that acted as it's backup visual sensors. The now blinded cyborg managed to toss me aside again, but this time I had the upper hand.

I detected the cyborg's sensors probing for me, but I knew it wasn't detecting anything. My spoofing system was simply absorbing the signals and not providing a return, so to the sensors, I wasn't there. I clawed the cyborg's chest again and again, eventually exposing its brain box. One good pull and the cyborg crashed to the ground.

I immediately turned to the bomb which was on the ground. I had disarmed bombs like this many times in training, but I couldn't help feeling a little nervous. I found the wire I needed to cut, and using my claws, snipped it. The bomb's timer stopped.

I sagged against the wall and looked down at my body. The skin of my chest and stomach had been blown away, exposing my solid armor ribcage and the armor mesh that protected my lower torso. I took off the remnants of my uniform jacket and let my autorepair system get to work repairing my stressed armor and regrow my skin and faux muscles.

_"Carl, you hearing this?"_ I radioed.

_"Loud and clear. We'll be ready in five minutes. How's it going?"_ He radioed back.

_"The bombs disarmed. Make sure you bring a shirt, please."_

I watched as my skin slowly knitted itself back together. Suddenly, I picked up a transmission.

_"Tiza, where's the boom!"_ It was a woman's voice.

_"Any second now!"_ That was the voice of the man I just met, _"I left Warren to guard it!_

I couldn't get a fix of the woman Tiza was talking to, but I did get a fix on him. I relayed that information to Eagle Team.

A minute passed. _"I thought you set the bomb for five minutes, Tiza? Where's the explosion?_ The woman was irate. _"Did someone show up? Could your cyborg have been disabled?"_

_"N-no! My cyborg was stunner proof! And my lookouts would have warned me about anyone carrying a rocket launcher or something!_

The woman growled. _"That bloody weapons dealer sold me a dud! Come on back, Tiza. We'll have to think of something else."_

A member of Eagle Team radioed me and told me that they couldn't find anything at the location I gave them. I sighed.

Carl entered the small room and tossed me a T-shirt. "Here," his voice was muffled by his gasmask.

"Thanks." I put the shirt on.

"Pyre wants to see you at the base. Somebody's waiting for you up top to drive you there."

Two hours later I was waiting impatiently in front of Pyre's office at Techna's military base. There had been a flurry of activity - representatives of the King, Duke, and the Mayor of Techna came in and out, each of them wrinkling there nose at the stench that had filled the lobby.

At last, Pyre called for me.

"Miun, I can't thank you enough for what you did tonight," he said. 

"What do you know about this Tiza, sir. I'll start hunting him tonight."

The general held up a hand. "Miun, you've done more that enough for now. Go home. Let me tell you, you need a shower."

"But, sir..."

"Miun, I thank you for your eagerness, but we're still figuring things out right now. I'll tell you what we know as soon as I know it."

I sighed. "Yes, Ewin."

I went home. Mieu was on the couch. "I heard it on the news," she said. "And by the stench, you took care of it."

"Yeah." I hurried into the shower. I didn't want Tim to be woken up by the smell of sewage. 


	9. An unexpected call

**May 7th, AW1276, Miun and Mieu's house, Techna, Palma**

The next morning I got a call from General Pyre.

"Good morning, Miun," He looked very tired.

"Any news, sir?"

Pyre shook his head. "Nothing yet. Tiza must not be his real name. We've searched Mother Brain's records, and we can't find any records on a Tiza that match what you saw."

For an Earthman invention, I thought to myself, Mother Brain can be useful. "What do you want me to do, sir?"

"There's nothing you can do right now, Colonel." Pyre said. "I've got our most experienced people on this."

"But sir, I'm sure I can help."

"Right now, you'd help best by not doing anything." He paused for a second. "Take two weeks leave, Miun. Go on vacation! Enjoy yourself! I'll call you if anything comes up I need you for. Just make sure you tell Commandant Jager where you're going."

I sighed. "Yes, sir."

"Great. Enjoy yourself, Miun. That's an order." Pyre's face disappeared from the screen.

"Why the long face, sis?" Mieu asked. "We haven't had an vacation since we were 13."

"I know - but I can't stop thinking that I failed because I let Tiza escape."

"From what you told me last night, sis," Mieu put her arm around me, "You did everything you could."

"It's a hard feeling to shake."

"Maybe that's the reason Pyre gave you this vacation."

I shrugged. "Maybe."

"Well, then," Mieu said cheerfully, "Where are we going to go?"

Although Pyre didn't say to bring Mieu and Tim along, I wouldn't think of not bringing them. "I don't know."

"How about Camineet? All those museums, the King's Amusement Park... it would be fun."

"Well, that would put me close to General Pyre, wouldn't it?" I mused.

"Forget Camineet." Mieu smiled. "You're supposed to get away from your work, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah," I said, "How about Rabalo Island? I've always wanted to see the ruins there."

"That sounds great," Mieu said. "I'm sure Tim would want to go too."

Mieu started to make breakfast as I sat back on the couch and watched the morning news. There was the story of the attempted bombing of the Winter Solstice Ball, but the story played down the severity of the situation and stated that the perpetrators had been caught.

The phone rang again. I got up and flicked it on. "Rydori residence."

The face that appeared in the monitor surprised me. It was Akar Sa Riik. "Good morning, Miun."

"Hello, Mr. Sa Riik. Why are you calling?"

He held up the autograph from last night. "You forgot this."

"So I did." I couldn't actually forget anything, but things could certainly fail to cross my mind.

"How about we meet for dinner. General Pyre gave me your number and told me that there's something I should discuss with you."

I figured that it was a little odd that Pyre didn't let me know, but I decided to go with it. "Where should we meet?"

"I'll send someone to pick you up. See you tonight." His face disappeared from the screen.

"What was that about?" Mieu said from the kitchen.

"I don't know. I guess I'll find out tonight."

The smell of breakfast woke Tim up and he walked into the living room. "We get to go on vacation!" Mieu said brightly.

"Really? Where?"

"Rabalo Island," I said. "It's got warm water, great beaches, hiking paths through the only jungle on the planet, and more."

"Sounds like fun, " Tim said. "What smells so good?"

Around 7 o'clock that evening, there was a knock at the door. It was the same driver that drove me to the ball the night before.

"Popular, aren't you?" The driver say as he led me to his limo.

I shrugged. "I guess."

I was taken to the foremost restaurant in Techna, which served fiery Camineet cuisine. The restaurant's metallic blue dome looked out of place amongst the blocky buildings of Techna.

The maitre d' led me to a back room, which I noticed was surrounded by a sound cancellation field. "Mr. Sa Riik will be a minute," the primly dress man said, handing me a menu. The maitre d' departed with a small bow.

I glanced through the menu. The prices were astronomically high, and I was glad I wasn't paying. Well, I hoped I wasn't paying.

"Miun!" Akar said as he opened the door and saw me. "Thank you for what you did last night," he kissed me on the cheek.

"You're welcome." What else could I say?

He sat down in his chair. "Here," he handed me the autograph from last night.

"Thanks for saving it," I put it in my handbag.

Pyre pressed a button on the table, and seconds later, a waiter entered the room. "May I take you order?" He said, giving the same little bow that the maitre d' did.

"I'll have the pork with the edicia sauce. Miun?"

I didn't really care, so I said, "I'll have the same."

"Very good." The waiter bowed again, and left.

We made small talk while we waited for dinner - sports, the weather, the latest movies (I hadn't see any in a while), that sort of thing. All the while, though, Akar had the same look in his eyes as last night, and I couldn't figure out what it was. Maybe I was seeing something that wasn't really there?

Dinner arrived and it certainly looked good.

Akar yawned. "Excuse me," he said. "I didn't get much sleep last night."

"I understand."

Akar picked at the pork tenderloin in front of him. "I lied to you this morning. Pyre didn't want me to meet with you." He paused. "Ever since Pyre told me about you. I've wanted to meet you - my company's greatest creation."

Was that the look in his eye? Fascination? I didn't think so. "But you're the CEO of the company. How could you not know about me?"

"You'd be amazed," he chuckled, "how many requests I get for funding for projects I don't have clearance for."

I wasn't sure if I believed him or not. I didn't say anything.

"How's your life been so far?"

Gee, that isn't a big question, is it? I thought. "As well as it could be, I guess."

"You're not mad that you'd be controlled for the first six years of your life?"

"I'm not happy about it, no," I replied, "but I can understand why. You don't want something as powerful as I am uncontrolled until you know it's not crazy."

"Not everyone would feel that way."

"I know." All to well, I thought.

Akar's cell phone rang. "Hello? Yes, Orakio can watch TV. No, he can't have more dessert. And them him I heard that." He hung up and laughed. "That was my babysitter. My son is putting up a fuss."

I smiled. "Kids will be kids."

"Say, do you want to baby sit for me?"

I blinked in surprise. "You're asking an android designed for _assassinations _to baby sit?"

"Well, we do get threats you know. I'd fell better having you there."

I thought it over. "I'll do it, but only if Pyre agree. I can't start for awhile anyway - I'm going on vacation."

"Thank you. Where are you going?"

"Port Lyrin on Rabalo Island."

"One last question for you, Miun. After you get out of the military completely, what are you going to do?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't given it much thought. After all, my life is measured in at, the very minimum, millennia. I've got time to figure it out."

"So you do." Akar's lips turned upward. "Now, let's eat." 


	10. A Plane Ride to a Faraway Place

**May 9th, AW1276, Techna Spaceport, Palma**

Airports (or the airport's younger, more glamorous sibling, the spaceport), as I would come to learn, were all alike. A maze like series of corridors leading to - when you eventually find it - your gate, with a lounge filled with uncomfortable chairs and a guaranteed annoyance.

Today, that annoyance was a baby screaming directly in my ear. I was tempted to turn that ear off, but Tim was on that side, and, after all, I was still his bodyguard. Despite the infant human's best efforts, I could hear Tim's every breath.

"Can I have your attention please?" The gate steward announced into a microphone. "First class passengers for flight 258 to Rabalo City may now board."

I stood and tugged on Tim's arm. Mieu followed us down the tunnel to the plane.

First class was filled with luxurious leather seats. "Sit by the window, Tim," I said. He sat and I sat next to him, with Mieu taking the aisle seat.

Mieu could have ridden in the plane's cargo hold, but I wouldn't have that. It wasn't all that uncommon with businesspeople to ride with their cyborgs, anyway. The airlines didn't care; after all, a cyborg in a seat brought in the same amount of money as a living customer.

Tim buckled in, and then turned to me and asked, "Why didn't we teleport there?"

"My pass only covers me," I replied, "and to teleport you, Mieu, and our luggage would cost far too much."

"Ok," He sounded nervous.

"This is your captain speaking," a young woman's voice sounded through the plane, "We'll be taking off shortly. Our flight time to Rabalo City will be a little over six hours." Normally, on a flight this long, it would be a suborbital flight that would take a little over an hour. However, Rabalo City's airport wasn't big enough to handle them.

I heard the plane's stand retract with a loud "ka-chunck". The plane was now floating six feet above the tarmac, supported by a repulsor field.

The plane floated to the runway. The jet engines, virtually unchanged for a 1500 years, roared. We were all shoved back into our seats as the plane lifted into the sky.

I looked over at Tim and saw him latched on to the armrest. "You should have told me if you were afraid of flying, Tim." I said.

"I'm OK," Tim said, but his voice and face betrayed the truth.

I took his hand off the arm rest and put it in my hand. "Don't worry. There hasn't be a death on a plane for almost a century."

Just then, the plane hit an air pocket and dipped. Tim squeezed my hand with crushing force. "It's alright," I said. "Hold my hand if you need to."

The plane leveled off. The captain came over the speakers again. "We've reached our cruising altitude of 52,500 feet. If you look out the left side windows - or for the first class passengers, the monitors in front of you - you'll see the Western Rift Mountains on the horizon."

For the next hour, Tim crushed my hand whenever the plane unexpected dipped or climbed. I called over a stewardess. "Excuse me, but my cousin here is scared of flying." I showed her Tim's crushing grip. "Do you have something to help?"

"Of course," The stewardess stepped into the forward cabin and came back with a pill and a glass of water.

"Thank you," I said. The pill was anxouizine and the effects were quick. Tim relaxed and slowly, as some people did when taking it, feel asleep.

Tim was still asleep when we landed four and half hours later. Mieu gently carried him out of the plane and through the airport. He awoke when we stepped out into the balmy night.

"We're here," I said. "You can sleep once we get in the car."

"I'm awake," Tim yawned.

I rented a luxury hovercar. Port Lyria, where we were staying, was on the other side of the island. We left the bright lights of Rabalo City - the largest city on the island - and drove on to the southern highway. We passed through small towns and we eventually arrived on the island's second largest city, Merkre, and I stopped at a fast food place.

"Hungry?" I asked Tim. He hadn't ate since we left our house, eight hours ago.

"I probably should go to the bathroom, too," he said.

I took him inside and ordered while he went. He was already in the car when I came back. I passed the hot food back to him.

"Thanks," he said, unwrapping a burger.

I turned the car on and it settled on it's repulsor field, like the plane did earlier. I drove back on to the Ring Highway, and we left Melkre behind.

On the way north, I admired the scenery around us. It was dark, but my eyes allowed me to see as if it was day. To our left was the turquoise sea, fronted by a strip of white side. The other side was jungle, essentially a wall of lush green leaves rising up the mountains at the center of the island.

An hour later we finally reached our destination, Port Lyria. Port Lyria wasn't a large city, or even a large town with a population of 8400 (I read it a sign at the town limits), but it was known for being the landing point for the first wave of colonists from the northern continent 2200 years ago.

The Lyria Star Hotel was the largest building in the city, towering thirty-five stories above us. I pulledinto the garage and turned the car off. We entered the elevator.

"Welcome to the Lyria Star Hotel," a pleasant voice filled the elevator. "We hope you enjoy your stay."

The doors opened and we were greeted by a yawning desk clerk. "Welcome to the Lyria Star Hotel." He mumbled. "Do you have a reservation?"

"Rydori." I handed him my ID.

The receptionist typed something into his computer, looked at the results, blinked, and looked again. "It seems that one of our penthouse owners has allowed you the use of his room during your stay."

"Really?" I didn't hide my surprise, "Who?"

"Our honored guest has requested to be unnamed. Do you want the room?"

I was naturally suspicious about our unnamed benefactor. General Pyre would have told me, and Jager wouldn't do something like this. Those were the only two people were supposed to knew where I was staying. However, if anyone wanted to harm me (or, more importantly, Tim) they would know where we were even if we didn't take the room. "Sure."

The receptionist handed over three keycards. "Use the far right elevator. Thank you for staying at the Lyria Star."

The interior of the elevator was plated in gold and trimmed in brilliant blue lapis lazuli. I stuck my keycard in the rose gold trimmed slot and a small screen lit up, showing where the elevator would take us. Our penthouse, not surprising, was on the top floor. One level below that was the Star Reach Restaurant, and there was a pool and a an entertainment floor as well. I selected the penthouse.

The elevator opened into a small foyer in front of our room. "Tim, hold up out here," I said. "Mieu and I are going to check it out."

Tim nodded. 


	11. Fun in the Sun

Mieu and I went over the suite with a fine toothed comb. We looked for anything that was out of place. I looked through the luxurious couch, under the soft beds in each of the suite's two bedrooms. I even checked inside the toilet in the gilt trimmed bathroom. I found nothing - no unexplained EM emissions, no large neon sign saying "We will kill you" - everything was as it should have been.

"All right, Tim," I called, "You can come in now."

"Wow," Tim said as he entered. It was my feelings too, now that I was convicted that the room was trying to kill us.

Tim tossed himself on the couch. I opened the living room's large sliding glass door and stepped out on to the balcony.

I put my hands on the railing and looked down the thirty-five stories to the street and beach below. I felt a faint echo of fear; when I was growing up, heights like this paralyzed me. Today, though, I could have leapt off the balcony, landed feet first on the ground, and walked off.

I heard Tim step beside me. "What's that bright star?"

I looked at the bright twinkling point of light low on the northern horizon. "That's Mi'rakre. It's name means 'brilliant watcher'. In ancient times, people thought that the Great Light placed it in the night sky to ensure the Darkness couldn't do anything." I chuckled. "Now, we know it's a rather interesting triple star system. Much less interesting that what the ancients thought, if I say so."

"I wonder where the Sun is," Tim asked softly. If anyone else had asked that question, I would have laughed at them. "I don't know."

Tim sighed. "I doubt I could see it anyway."

I turned to Tim. "I know you slept on the flight here, but you should try to sleep. You want your biological clock reset for this time zone."

Tim nodded and walked back in. I followed him and shut the door behind us.

_Can you help Tim get to sleep?_ I radioed Mieu. Mieu had a technique that would put people to sleep. I didn't.

_Sure._ Mieu went into the bedroom Tim claimed.

I turned on the living room's computer. The atlas in Tim's box had a list of brightest stars and nearby stars. I wasn't an astronomical expert - or even an amateur - but I had hours until morning, and Tim's question had piqued my interest.

The sky outside was blue when I found something. It was just the star's survey numbers and basic astronomical data, but now that I had that, finding more would be easy.

It's wasn't. No matter how hard I looked, I couldn't find anything more on the star. I gave up and told Mieu both what I had and had not found.

"You not finding anything more - what does that mean?" Mieu asked.

"I don't know. I'll look more on the military network when we get back to Techna." I said.

A half hour later Tim came out into the living room. "How are you feeling?" I asked.

Tim arched his back and stretched his arms. "Pretty good. I'm hungry, though."

I picked up the room service handset.

"Room service."

"Yes, we'd like some breakfast."

"Of course, Ms. Rydori. What would you like? Since you're a esteemed guest of a penthouse owner, any reasonable request to room service will incur no charge to you."

Tim didn't have any clue what he wanted. To the room service receptionist's credit, she didn't sound annoyed at the half a hour of back and forth that it took for him to make up his mind. Once Tim and I finished eating (after all, how often do you get to eat a 1000 meseta breakfast) I asked Tim, "You feeling like going to the beach later? Mieu can grill something up for lunch."

"I don't get a voice in this?" Mieu had a smirk on her face.

"What, you want me to cook?"

Mieu laughed. "Not on your life! I remember that last time you used a grill. Poor steaks were burnt to a crisp."

"I didn't have this body back then," I said.

Mieu's voice suddenly took on a serious edge. "Cooking is more than measuring temperature, sis. It's about much more." Her voice softened. "After all, you don't want to hurt Tim, do you?"

"Miun wouldn't be that bad, would she?" Tim chimed in.

"I wouldn't bet on it, Tim." Mieu said. "I'm choosing what I cook, sis."

"Anyway," I said, "does this sound good to you, Tim?"

"Yeah." He said after a short pause that struck me as odd.

I called room service again and requested the ingredients that Mieu dictated to me, plus items that I thought would be fun on the beach - a ball, a flying disc, stuff like that.

"Of course, ma'am." The receptionist said. "It'll be ready and delivered to the beach at 11:30, as you requested. Which beach do you want? As a penthouse guest, you have access to our exclusive private beach."

"Private beach?" I echoed. "How do I get to that?"

"There's a door in the parking garage labeled 'Private Beach'. I can send a cyborg to show you if you like."

"That's alright. We'll find it."

"The items your requested will be at the private beach at 11:30. Enjoy the rest of your stay."

11:30 came around and we all rode the elevator down to the garage. We found the door easily enough. On the other side was a moving sidewalk which took us a quarter of a mile and stopped at another door. It opened to a pristine beach nestled in a cove.

"Welcome to the beach, Ms. Rydori." One the two gilt trimmed cyborgs that flanked the door nodded to me. "The items you requested are here." It pointed at a tarp covered pile.

"Mieu, take that stuff and follow me." I didn't see anyone within eyeshot - but who saw what the cyborgs saw?

Mieu and Tim followed down the beach. "We'll setup here." I said, stopping a little above the wet sand line.

From here, we had a nice view of Lyris Atoll - a low island which sat in the middle of the bay. I knew that there were quite of few places that would take you out there to dive the reef that surrounded the island. I had read that it was something you shouldn't miss when you come to Port Lyria.

"Tim," I pointed at the island, "you feel like diving tomorrow?"

"I've never been diving before," he replied, "Makes me a bit nervous."

"It's easy -"

_This coming from someone that doesn't have to breathe..._ Mieu interjected via radio.

"- and I'll be there, of course."

Tim smiled. "Sure, why not?" He turned around to face the ocean.

I picked up a ball and tossed at the back of Tim's head. He turned back around to have it catch him in the chin.

"Hey!" He grabbed the ball and threw back at me as hard as he could.

I caught it with one hand and tossed it back to him.

"I come... use to go to the beach with my dad a lot," Tim underhanded the ball back to me, "It wasn't anything like this beach. It was cold and foggy more often than not - and the water was freezing."

"What did you two do there?"

He flashed my an odd look. "We tossed a ball around and talked." He said, his voice trailing off.

I caught the ball and held it. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

Tim shrugged. "It's all right. I think I'm coming to terms with it."

I sat down in one of the beach chairs Mieu had set up, and motioned for Tim to sit beside me. "You amaze me, Tim. You really do."

"How so?" He sounded surprised.

I lowered my voice so the sizzle of the coals would prevent any unwanted listeners. "You're a month from being kidnapped, learning that your home has been destroyed, transported to an alien world, kidnapped again, and, finally, coming to live with two androids." I paused. "I'm not sure I could handle that without completely breaking... but you are."

Tim rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm sure it's the pills."

I shook my head and I heard Mieu whisper "No."

"No, Tim," I said, "I know what those pills can do. They can't give you the will to go on - you have to have that yourself. The pills just make it easier to realize that you have it."

"I'm sure I have you two to thank." Tim said.

_You got me thinking, sis._ Mieu radioed. _Tim said he knew what we were from the beginning. What if he knew us before coming to Palma? I mean, know us personally._

_He was very comfortable with us from the beginning,_ I said after chewing it over for a microsecond, _But... I think he'd have to know us pretty well._

_You think it would be a good idea to ask him?_

_I don't know._

"Want to go swimming, Tim?" I asked. "I don't think it'll much longer before it'll lunch will be ready... and you know what they say about eating and swimming."

"Sure." Tim said and ran off towards the water.

I barged through the waves and treaded water, keeping a passive eye on Tim. The only reason I wouldn't ask Tim about if he knew us is because there was a slim possibility of causing the timeline to screw up. I had researched the possible effects of a paradox - and scientists thought that the effects would be minimal.

"Master, Mistress," Mieu called from the beach fifteen minutes later, "Lunch is ready."

I swam back to the beach and toweled off. "Tim," I called out to Tim, who was still swimming, "Lunch!"

Tim ran up the beach and tripped, falling face first at my feet.

I offered Tim my hand. "You OK?"

"Yeah," He said, pulling himself up, "I'm good at being a klutz."

"You said that, not I." I smiled.

"Your lunch, Mistress." Mieu held a plate of steaming food.

I took it. "Thank you, Mieu." It wasn't uncommon for people to thank a cyborg.

I picked up the red sauced ribs and bit in. It was heavenly. The meat was juicy and feel off the bone. The sauce was tangy, sour, spicy, and sweet all at the same time. _This is really good,_ I radioed Mieu.

_Thanks._ I glanced at Mieu and she flashed me a momentary smile.

I said my food down. "Tim?"

"Yeah?" He said through a forkful of noodles.

"Before you came here, to Palma - did you know us personally?"

Tim's eyes opened wide and he swallowed hard. He broke out a fit of coughing, and I was about to perform the Heimlich when he took a raspy breath. "Yes... you were friends of mine." He said hoarsely.

"Thank you, Tim." I said, "I won't ask you anything else about the past."

**May 11th, AW1276, _Grandpa's Pride_, Lyris Bay**

I looked over at Tim. He had thrown up once already on the trip out here, but he seemed to be used to the boat's movement's now.

"We're here!" The boat's skipper, a portly old fellow with grey hair announced. One odd thing that I did notice was that he carried a rather long knife on his hip.

"Ready, Tim?" I pulled down my swim mask and put the rebreather in my mouth. My flippers slapped the deck as I walked to the side of the boat.

"I think I am."

"Then let's go!" I jumped into the warm azure water. Tim paused for a second, and then jumped right behind me.

The coral bed which filled the lagoon was nothing short of incredible. There were coral of every shape and color, and brightly colored fish darted from coral to coral.

I pointed at a branching pink coral that was tagged with a 'keep away' sign. "See this coral?" I said using the rebreather's onboard communicator. "This is called 'Widow's Fingers'. It's poison was used for assassination before an antidote was discovered."


	12. The Unfriendly Waters

I noticed a purple and green fish peek it's head out a niche in the coral next to Tim's leg. I lunged towards Tim, but the water slowed me down.

"Urk!" Tim grunted as I smashed into him, but not before the fish nipped him in the leg. "What was that for?"

I grabbed Tim by the arm and swam back towards the boat.

"My leg... it feels like it's on fire!" Tim panicked.

I didn't say a word - I didn't want to scare Tim more and have the viperfish venom pump through his system even faster. As it was, it only took me a couple of minutes to get back to the boat and Tim was already unconscious.

I pulled his limp body out of the water. "Where's the viperfish antivenom?" I screamed at the boat's captain, who was in the wheelhouse sipping a beer.

I saw him jump up, spilling beer on himself. He stumbled through the cabin and shoved open the door to the deck. "Are you sure it was a viperfish?"

"Yes!" I shouted back at him. I couldn't tell him how I was so sure - viperfish venom was still the poison of choice for assassination, as it could only be countered by one specific antidote. I was trained on application, effects, and even how to milk a viperfish of it's venom in a pinch. If Tim got the antivenom right away, he'd only need a short hospital stay.

"Well, uh..." The captain looked down at the deck.

"You have some, right?" It was the law, after all.

"I lost it and the distributor hasn't sent more."

"You what?" I fixed him with a weapon-grade glare, then shoved him aside and rushed into the cabin. I grabbed my bag, and tossing Tim and my clothes aside pulled out a small medkit. I hurried back to the deck. "Get this boat back to the dock, quickly!" I barked at the captain. "Call an ambulance!"

The captain nodded and made his way back to the wheelhouse.

"Hang in there, Tim." I said softly as a snapped open the medkit. I pulled out one of the autoinjectors inside and pressed against Tim's neck, hearing it hissed as it dispensed a broad-based antidote in to his bloodstream. It wouldn't stop the poison, but it would slow it down.

Tim was pale and his breathing was ragged. I checked his pulse and I found it rapid and weak.

I pulled the second autoinjector from the medkit. This contained a triple strength dose of mat serum, a powerful healing medicine. It, like the antidote, would buy Tim time. After I injected it, some color returned to Tim's face and his breathing improved.

That was the extent the medkit could help Tim. The gauze, bandages, painkillers... everything was useless. Mieu and I had prepared the medkit to deal with almost any situation - this was one we hadn't planned on.

I was keenly aware of every passing nanosecond as the boat crawled back to dock. The poison begin to overwhelm the mat and Tim's face lost it's slight color and his breathing became ragged again.

At long last we arrived at the dock. I carried Tim off the boat and put him on a waiting gurney.

"What did you give him?" The paramedic asked as he hooked Tim up to the various equipment in the ambulance.

I told him and finished by saying forcefully, "I'm coming with you."

"Sit here," The paramedic said, slamming the door. The ambulance started to drive.

"Inject viperfish antivenom." The paramedic ordered the onboard medical suite. I saw a dark liquid run down the IV line in Tim's arm.

"Done." A pleasant female voice filled the ambulance.

We sped on and I noticed the paramedic did nothing. "Isn't there anything you can do?" I asked.

"You gave him mat - which too much is a bad thing. I've got nothing else that would help."

An alarm sounded. "Cardiac arrest detected," the annoying calm voice intoned, "Recommend defibrillation."

"Do it!" The paramedic ordered.

"Please clear the patient." The sickening calm voice said.

"Patient clear."

Tim's back arched off the table as electricity flowed through him.

"No effect." The voice said, somehow more calmer than before. "Recommend Recardite injection."

"On it," the paramedic's voice was anything but calm. He placed a injector on Tim's upper chest. "Recard injected. Starting CPR."

"Need help?" I asked. "I'm certified."

"4... 5... I've got it."

After what seemed like an eternity, the voice said. "Pulse detected."

The paramedic and I shared a sigh of relief.

We pulled into Port Lyria's small hospital. Tim was pulled out of the ambulance and quickly wheeled into the hospital. "We can't dawdle now, people," a doctor yelled. "Move it!"

An orderly showed me into a waiting room and gave me a pile of papers to sign. Fortunately, Pyre had made me Tim's legal guardian, so there was no problem - including having my military health insurance cover him, which meant that any medical procedure was open to him.

I sat in the waiting room, thinking I would tell Mieu and Pyre. I had failed to protect Tim, as I had been ordered to do - and, more importantly, I had failed him as a friend. But... that sort of thinking wouldn't help anyone now.

At long last, the doctor came into the room. "Ms. Rydori?"

I nodded.

"We've managed to get, " he checked his clipboard, "Tim in to a life support pod. He's going to make it."

"Oh, thank the Light," I breathed.

"Almost everyone of his organs has sustained serious damage - "

"What about his brain?"

"He wasn't without oxygen long enough for damage to occur, and viperfish venom doesn't attack the brain. His scans are normal."

"What's going to happen now?"

"We've got him drugged up and we'll see what organs are savable in a few days. I've got a full body clone ordered, just in case."

"Why not transplant him now?"

"Unlike the brain of a cyborg," the doctor said, "the human brain isn't made to be uninstalled from one body and reinstalled in another. Even the best hospitals have a 10 fatality rate. If we can avoid that, we should."

I nodded. "Can I see him?"

The doctor shook his head. "We've still got techs in there calibrating the equipment. There wouldn't be much to see anyway - he's in a beige tube with no windows."

I sighed.

"I recommend that you go home and get some rest. No need to jeopardize your health. I'll call you if anything happens."

I wanted to stay, of course... but the doctor was right. There wasn't anything I could do here.

I stepped out of the hospital - and a felt a seed of anger sprout within me. It really wasn't my fault that Tim was as seriously injured as he was. I knew who was...

I jogged down to the docks, the seed of anger within sprouting. I stopped in front of the _Grandpa's Pride's_ quay and pulled out my cellphone. I called the Lyria City police and told them what had happened and my desire to press charges. The cops said someone would be there in a few minutes.

I stomped on to the boat and found the old man watching TV and sipping a beer in the cabin. I slammed my fist on the door.

He opened it. "Huh - urk!"

I yanked him up by the collar and slammed him against the wall. "You nearly killed someone today!" I screamed in his face. "How could you leave without the antivenom! You knew that the reef harbored viperfish!"

"It wasn't my fault..." He said, weakly.

"Don't give me that!" I growled. "You could have closed until it came! You cared more about money than your customer's safety!"

I let him go and he slumped to the deck. "You're very lucky that I only called the cops. If I had wanted to, I could have repainted this boat with your blood." My anger was fading now. I stepped back outside, slamming the door behind me.

I started to walk back down the dock to wait for the police. I heard the door open and the captain running towards me. I spun around, and the knife that was bound for my back instead cut my the back of my upper arm.

I grabbed his knife arm and locked it with my elbow. "What the Dark has gotten into you?" I growled. "There's no need to make the situation worse!" I let him go after I pulled the knife out of his hand and tossed it the water.

The old man feel to his knees. "That boat's been in my family for eight generations... and you... and you are going to take it from my kids!"

"You knew what the law would do if you were caught without the antivenom," I said. I didn't pity him in the slightest. "It's your fault."

I heard running footsteps behind me. It was two police officers. "Ma'am," one said, a little breathlessly, "are you alright?"

I grabbed at my arm, which was now dripping blood from my elbow. "He cut me. The knife's in the water."

"I'll take you to the hospital. Dirk, you can deal with him. I'll be back soon."

The other officer already had the captain handcuffed. "I got this handled."

We walked back to the police car. The officer handed my a towel. "Put pressure on that."

We got to the hospital, and the same doctor that treated Tim lead me to a exam room. "What happened?"

I told him the truth.

"I wouldn't have done that," the doctor said as he cleaned out the cut. "But I understand why you did." He slathered on a local anesthetic around the cut. "I don't get to stitch wounds often, but I think it'll be best for this cut." He quickly closed the cut and bandaged it up. "You should be good as new in a week. Just take it easy. You don't want to reopen it."

"Thank you, doctor." Not that I need to be stitch up... but he didn't need to know that.

I picked up my stuff and exited the hospital for the second time. It was raining, and I trudged back to the hotel. I was sopping wet when I opened the penthouse door.

"Hi, Miun!" Mieu said cheerfully. "Where's Tim?"

I hadn't radioed Mieu about what had happened - I felt that I need to tell her face to face.

She took the news silently. "Oh dear," she said softly when I had finished.

"I failed again." I said. "It was my job to protect him."

"Miun," my sister sat down next to me on the couch, "You can't beat yourself up when something doesn't go perfectly."

"What's the point of chasing perfection when you aren't disappointed when you don't reach it?"

Mieu sighed. "You know you can't be perfect. You've just got to try your best."

"My best almost cost Tim his life! I - "

Mieu put her hand over my mouth. "Sis, listen. You've been this way ever since I can remember. I know you're not going to change, but you need to stop being so hard on yourself!"

"What else can I do?"

"You already did what you could, sis! You saved Tim's life. You know you can't control every variable."

"I should have checked that there was antivenom on board." I said softly. Mieu was right - she always was. Shooting for perfection was something my father - my virtual father - had engrained in my at an early age. It was just the way I was.

"Would Tim want you to be moping around?" Mieu asked.

"I guess not." I begrudged.

"Good. Now stop."

I nodded.

"Now," a crack of a smile appeared on her face. "Go dry off before the hotel charges us for a waterlogged couch.

I spent the rest of the night watch TV - nothing else to do. When it hit about 1 in the morning, I changed in to my uniform. "Mieu, I need to report this to General Pyre. I shouldn't be long."

"Ok, sis."

I drove to the Port Lyria teleport station - one of only two on the island and teleported to Camineet. I crossed a lunch rush packed street, went through a park that had more protesters than the last time I had been there, and walked into the military base.

"Miun?" General Pyre said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

I told him what I had happened.

He nodded solemnly. "I know you did what you could."

"Yes, sir. I'm sorry it wasn't enough."

"He's still alive thanks to you."

"Yes, sir." I wasn't going to beat myself up over this anymore. "Any news on the bombing?"

"We're working on it. We're tearing the cyborg apart and working on finding the two accomplices you scared off." He paused. "You have a more important duty to attend to."

"Sir?"

"You need to take care of Tim. You know how important he is."

"I will, sir." You didn't have to say that twice.

"Keep me updated."

"Yes, sir." 


End file.
